


Incubus heart

by UnderZeWeather



Series: AU Jam [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Dubious Consent, Dubious Ethics, Dubious Morality, Heavy Angst, Horror, Human Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Incubus Lance (Voltron), M/M, Psychological Horror, Stockholm Syndrome, incubus logic is weird, yandere Lance kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:29:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 38,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24925426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnderZeWeather/pseuds/UnderZeWeather
Summary: A dead eyed man travels aimlessly from place to place.A charismatic monster guides his path.A man tries desperately to save his brother.This is a story of obsession, isolation and desperation.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: AU Jam [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1893274
Comments: 10
Kudos: 46





	1. Predators

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted in Strawberry and Blueberry Jam under Incubus AU. Kudos and comment when you can. Enjoy :D

Willow Falls was a hunting town. Lots of people from out of town came by and rented a cabin. It was kind of annoying, but Sendak was used to it. Though he did wish that there were a few cute girls that liked hunting. Sure some women came by, but they were usually with their husbands or had kids clinging to them. Gross. Not something he cared for.

It still annoyed Sendak to no end. He just wanted a hot piece of ass to mess around with for a few days. Instead he would just be sitting around his shop with Haxus, quietly bitching and whining about not getting any pussy this season.

As he lamented this he happened to see a car pulled over to the side of the road. The bonnet was up and someone was looking inside. He didn’t recognise the vehicle and assumed it was someone from out of town either passing through or going to one of the cabins. He sighed and pulled over behind them.

He got out and walked over to see if they needed help. “Hey, you okay there?” He asked.

The driver of the car looked up from the engine. A young man with shoulder length black hair, and the most emotionless, dead fish eyes Sendak had ever seen. It was creepy as fuck. The man just shrugged at him.

“Radiator’s empty. I need antifreeze.”

“... Right. I have some in my car. I’ll go get it…” As he walked back he happened to notice something move in the backseat. He took a moment to see a gorgeous pair of flawless tanned legs that went on for days. Said legs were attached to a beautiful body wrapped in an oversized hoodie. They were sleeping. It was kind of hard for Sendak to tell if they were male or female. Sure was pretty though.

“Don’t wake them.” Said the man. “... We’ve been traveling all night and they need the sleep.” They spoke with such affection for a man with dead eyes. It made Sendak want to puke. He got the antifreeze and handed it over to the man. The man just nodded and filled the tank. “Thank you.” He said quietly.

“Yeah… If you’re going to go through the town you’re best off coming to my store. Best supplies and it’s right next to a mechanic.”

The man stared up at him, unblinking. “Sure. Thanks.” The car door opened and the sleeping person yawned. The black haired man froze for a moment and quickly looked up at Sendak, forcing the antifreeze into his hands. “Okay thanks for everything. We’ll get going now. I’m sure you have other things to do now.”

Sendak was kind of taken aback by the man’s sudden outburst but quickly moved back. However, he did take one last chance to look at the tanned beauty in the back seat of the car. They had that hazy look on their face. Their eyes were the most astonishing shade of blue he had ever seen. They blinked a few times up at him and smiled innocently up at him. This person even had the audacity to wave at him with most of his hoodie covering their hand. They looked like an innocent child.

Sendak wanted to violate them.

Still he went back to his car and drove back into town. If that weird dead eyed freak wasn’t there he would have wrecked that bitche’s ass. They would probably scream and moan like a little whore they were when Sendak just pushed the tip in. He’d split the bitch in two and they’d love it.

Unfortunately he just had to live with his little fantasy. That beauty and the dead eyed man were probably just passing through Willow Falls. They didn’t look like they were going to be hunting any time soon.

He went back to his shop where Haxus was sipping a drink behind the counter. As the owner, Sendak should have been pissed, but he didn’t care. He was too sexually frustrated and pent up to really give a fuck. If that little whore happened to walk into his shop all wide eyed innocent, he’d slam them against the counter top and and fuck them with the bottle of jack he kept under the countertop.

Were his fantasies a little sick and twisted? Yes. But honestly, all real men had these kinds of thoughts. It was only natural to want to pin down and dominate a fine piece of ass like that, especially with said ass was sweet and pure looking. It was a man’s right to take, defile, and claim as their own. 

Haxus noticed something was up with his boss. “Something wrong?”

Sendak grunted. “Saw the nicest piece of ass today. Slut totally wanted me. Would have fucked her raw if she wasn’t with some weird guy with dead fish eyes. Guy was a fucking creep. I would have assumed the creep kidnapped them if they hadn’t woken up.”

When it came to sex and what they thought of women, the two men were on the same wave length. “Shame.” Said Haxus. “All the hot ones are just passing through.”

“Yeah.”

The sound of a car pulling made both of them look to the window. The guy with the dead fish eyes got out of the car. They talked to that beautiful person inside their car for a few seconds before they walked inside. They picked up a basket and quickly started collecting things. Sendak gestured to Haxus that this was the guy.

Haxus nodded and pretended to not give the dead eyed man more than a nod and a “Morning.” as he walked around. The dead eyed man quickly filled his basket with food and headed to the counter. The man mumbled something before he quickly went to the camping supplies and grabbed a few tarps.

“That all?” Asked Haxus.

The man shook his head and pointed to a sign behind his head. Their little grocery store did offer home delivery. “Do you deliver to cabins?”

Haxus raised an eyebrow and took out a book. “Sure. Just need a name, cabin number and payment method. We don’t take check.”

“Keith. Cabin seven. Cash.”

Haxus nodded and quickly jotted it down. “Keith. Cabin seven. Cash. Right?”

Keith nodded. The door to the grocery shop opened up again and that beautiful person walked in again with their bright blue eyes and innocent smile. Their eyes lit up when they saw Sendak and waved at him. Keith looked like they were going to jump out of their skin when they saw this person in the shop.

He quickly went over to them and whispered something into their ear. The tanned angel pouted a little and gestured to some of the candy by the counter. Keith sighed heavily and nodded quickly while pushing them back towards the car. They let Keith do it, but they looked over at Sendak longingly and kept eye contact with him for as long as possible. The little whore wanted him. The little whore wanted to get fucked by him so badly.

Keith quickly went back over to the counter and bought his items, along with a candy bar that they apparently wanted. “S-so do I just call in and tell you what I want?”

Haxus nodded. “Yep. Just do that and we’ll be over in twenty.”

Keith nodded and gathered his things. He quickly left the store and packed it into his car, and drove off. When they were gone, Haxus let out a long, slow, whistle. 

“Wow… Just wow…” He muttered. “That guys is really fucking creepy… But that other one, that one’s a real looker. Fucking fine piece of ass.”

“Bitch totally wants me. Couldn’t take their eyes off me.” Said Sendak. “Slut couldn’t even take their eyes off me. Bet they are just dying to be with a real man and not something that looks dead.”

Haxus nodded in agreement. “Yeah… You know, it wouldn’t be the first time some people go missing up in Willow Falls…”

A deadly smirk made its way onto Sendak’s face. “Yeah. Accidents happen all the time in hunting season. Not that unusual for a guy to go missing…”

Haxus nodded in agreement as he flipped through his book. “Yep. Good thing we know where they are staying. We should probably check on them soon and make sure they settled into their cabin okay.”

“I was just thinking the same thing.”

***

The two of them closed up their store a bit around midday and headed towards cabin seven. It was off the main road and along a dirt road. Haxus was going through his bag. They had zip ties, cloth and a few other simple things to make it all go smoother. This wasn’t the first time they had done this. A hot piece of ass was just begging for some fun. If the girl happened to get a little frisky and ended up suddenly moving and their neck got broken, well that was her damn fault wasn’t it?

Before they left their car they turned to each other and quickly did a quick round of scissors, paper, rock. Haxus won, which annoyed Sendak, but the man had won fair and square. They walked up to the cabin and both seemed to notice a disgusting smell in a box next to the cabin. They looked inside and saw roadkill. It looked like someone’s cat. It already had maggots crawling around in it. It was gross.

They ignored it and looked through the window. Keith was walking around the cabin while that beautifully tanned individual was sitting on a chair eating a candy bar. They were still as adorable as ever. Keith looked like they were talking to them. The tanned beauty looked bored and uninterested in whatever Keith was saying.

Sendak gestured for Haxus to head around the back. Haxus nodded and silently walked there. They had done this song and dance before. After one long minute Sendak knocked on the door of the cabin. There was some shuffling behind the door. As soon as it was unlocked Sendak shoved it open, knocking Keith down to the floor.

Keith stared up at Sendak with wide eyes, but his eyes were still dead. Keith quickly scrambled to his feet and tried to get back to the other room. Haxus had already kicked in the backdoor and had grabbed hold of the beautiful tanned person. His trusty hunting knife was already out and held up to their throat.

Before Keith could get over to them, Sendak grabbed hold of Keith and held his arms back. “NO!” Yelled Keith and he tried to pull himself free. “LET HIM GO! LANCE! LANCE! LANCE!”

Hearing Keith yelling out a man’s name gave both Sendak and Haxus a moment of pause. Haxus pulled off the tanned man’s hoodie, revealing that he was indeed a man. There was a very noticeable bulge going on in Lance’s white booty shorts.

Haxus and Sendak shared a look. They had a whole conversation in seconds. They were after a woman, not a man. Then again, this Lance guy was dressing like a whore anyway. He should have expected this sort of thing in the first place. They decided it didn’t really matter if Lance was a man or a woman. They were cute and they were going to end up fucking their ass anyway.

“It’s okay Keith.” Said Lance in a shaky voice, even though he seemed to be trembling in nervousness. “I’m okay… I’m not going to fight them so just relax. It will be okay.”

Keith slowly stopped struggling and eventually just hung his head in defeat. Sendak wasn’t going to take any chances and took a zip tie out of his pocket and quickly secured Keith’s wrists behind his back, making sure that the thin plastic dug into his skin.

“That’s what I’m talking about.” Said Sendak. “A good bitch that’s going to cooperate for once.” He gestured towards the bedroom. “Go on. You won.”

Keith looked up at Lance and squirmed a little in Sendak’s grasp. “Lance…”

“It’s okay Keith. Everything will be okay. Trust me.”

Haxus tightened his grip on Lance and practically dragged him up the narrow hallway and into the cabin’s bedroom, kicking it shut behind him. Seconds later the sound of furniture moving and shouting started flowing out of that room.

Sendak smirked and shoved Keith to the ground. With Keith unable to move and Haxus having a good time with Lance, he decided to look around the cabin. He might as well see what these two had on them while he waited for his turn.

He found a duffle back with some clothes and a journal. Who in this day and age had a journal? He looked through the first few pages and was surprised to see the first few entries seemed to be made in crayon. They weren’t even written words. They were drawings. Childish stick figures drawn in crayon. It kind of looked like one of the stick figures, one in red, was in some kind of hospital? It was hard to tell.

He flicked ahead a few pages to the first written entry. It was awful and full of spelling mistakes. Clearly done by a child, or someone with some mental problems.

_My cheast hurts alot. They are tacking kare of me. Butt I am sad. They now a spell that maks the pain go away. Butt they kan’t make the sad go away._

That handwriting was pretty terrible. Sendak almost would have made fun of it if it wasn’t so pathetic. Kids were fucking stupid. There were a few more entries like that. Sometimes they were in crayon, sometimes they were in pencil. A few times they were in pen, but the spelling never improved. The letters were always a little wonky and shaky.

_I cort a frog to day. I wanted to keep it butt they made me put it back. That made me mad so I didnt speek to them for the reast of the day. That shoowed them. They brot me some chokolate :D_

_Wen they get hungry they leeve me. It’s scary. I dont like being a lone. I’m scared they wont come back. If I do some thing bad will they leev me?_

_Im scared of them._

_I wanted to help them get food to day. They got angree. Said Im too little. That Im going too get in the way and well both go hungree. They are scarry wen they yell._

_Im finally big enoff to help them get food. I dug a reelly big hole and found a dead cat like they told me too. I dont now why I needed to get a dead cat. Im just happy too help Lance._

Sendak glanced over at Keith. The boy hadn’t moved from his spot on the floor since Sendak shoved him over. It seemed like Keith was mentally handicapped somehow. Did that mean Lance was his caregiver or something? Just looking at them Sendak would have assumed it was the other way around.

Then again they could both be fucked in the head and only just made it into the functioning category. “Hey.” He called over to Keith. “You retarded or something?” 

Keith stayed quiet, which annoyed Sendak. If Keith really was fucked in the head then he probably didn’t understand the situation he and Lance were in right now. Which meant he wouldn’t be able to get a reaction out of him. That was half the fun if there was a partner around. He wanted a reaction. Any reaction.

“That whore you’re with is moaning up a storm.” Said Sendak. “So what? You two travel from town to town and he whores himself out to make money for you two? Just fucks anyone they come across? They just go ahead and fuck everyone but you?”

That seemed to provoke a reaction. Keith tensed a little, but took a deep breath and relaxed again. It made Sendak grin. That was how he could get a reaction from Keith. The man obviously had a soft spot for Lance. Who was Sendak kidding? Keith obviously wanted to fuck Lance but the tanned man was totally out of his league. He was probably used to people having their way with Lance while he just pathetically stood back and let it happen. The pathetic bastard was completely whipped.

“Yeah, I bet he fucks everyone.” Said Sendak. “Everyone but you. You completely pathetic, useless shit. You’re like what? Two inches hard? No one would want you. No man or woman. Let alone a well seasoned whore. One look at you without your pants on and I bet he laughed at you. Bet he asked if your clit was swollen it’s so pathetically small.”

Keith tensed up again, but didn’t say anything. Sendak was clearly striking some nerve with the dead eyed man. But he wasn’t saying anything. He needed to push further. He needed to see some kind of emotion in Keith’s eyes. Some kind of despair or look of hopelessness. He couldn’t still have that look of nothing in his eyes after everything he’d said.

Sendak grabbed Keith by the hair and pulled his head back, smirking. “Still got nothing to say? Your whore of a boyfriend’s gonna get some real dick for once in their life and there isn’t shit you can do about it.”

Keith continued to look up at Sendak with the same emotionless eyes. “What’s your plan?” He finally asked. “You know we are here for a month, so you’re going to fuck Lance for an entire month before you decide you’re done with him and then you’re going to kill him? Cut him up and scatter him in the woods for the animals to eat? Are you going to do that to me too? Rape me and kill me?”

Sendak hated all the questions. He’d have preferred it if Keith just stared at him with those dead fish eyes and said nothing. He tightened his grip on Keith’s hair and slammed his face into the floor. “You talk too much. Just shut up and listen to that little slut getting real dick for once. Fucking creep.” Just for kicks he kicked Keith hard in the ribs.

Keith gasped and spluttered as the wind got knocked out of him. The only sounds that filled the cabin for the next few minutes were the sounds of Keith gasping along with the loud moaning and thumping coming from the bedroom.

As he waited he couldn’t help but think about what Keith had said. Yeah, by the end of this he’d probably have to end up killing Lance. The slut deserved it though. If the whore didn’t parade around like a tramp none of this would have happened.

“... I’m bored.” Muttered Keith.

Sendak was almost taken aback by that statement. This man. This dead eyed man. His partner was getting violated in the next room over with the guarantee that they were both going to die yet he was bored? Maybe that dead eyed look extended far beyond his eyes? Maybe he was some crazy, suicidal fuck that just didn’t care? Fucking amazing. His apathetic attitude pissed him off.

He kicked Keith in the stomach repeatedly. “Fucking piece of shit.” He growled. “You’re some kind of disgusting parasite that doesn’t give a fuck? Do you really not care about him? Disgusting.” The spat on his. “Got something to say for yourself? Come on bitch! Say something! Fucking say something!”

Keith coughed and sputtered slightly as they tried to regain their breath and find their voice. “D… d…”

Sandak growled and pulled Keith up to his knees by his hair. “What the fuck are you trying to say?”

They coughed a little more before looking back up at Sendak. For the first time since he saw Keith his eyes didn’t look dead. There was something there. Something almost akin to joyful. It was more disturbing than the dead fish look.

“D-don’t you think it’s a little too quiet?” Asked Keith. Sendak paused for a moment. Keith was right. The whole cabin was deathly silent. Not a moan or the creaking of furniture. Keith was grinning now. “You should have just let him sleep. I told you he needs his sleep. But you didn’t listen. You didn’t listen. You didn’t listen. You didn’t li-”

Sendak pushed Keith to the ground and quickly ran to the bedroom. “Haxus! Haxus what the he-” Sendak stopped in his tracks when he opened the bedroom door. Crouched over Haxus’s body was a monstrous creature with large bat-like wings. Its tail happily swung from side to side as this tanned skinned creature was happily bobbing up and down as the grotesque sounds of ripping and slurping filled the room. The room smelled strongly of copper.

Lance looked over at Sendak, showing off the crown of horns that circled their head. Their cold, blue eyes were icy and almost hateful. Blood ran down his chin and he pointed one bloodied claw at him.

“I’ll get to you in a minute.” Lance said calmly. “Wait your turn.”

There weren’t many things that scared Sendak, but this was one of those things. He turned to run, but before he could even take a step, Keith slammed into him as hard as he could, knocking Sendak over. He hit his head on a stupid vase table and was knocked out cold.

When Sendak came to again he was tied and placed on a tarp. He groaned a little as he tried to figure out where he was. He looked over to his right and saw Lance and Keith. The monster was gently touching the slight abrasions on Keith’s face with one hand while lightly touching his chest with the other.

“It’s okay.” Cooed Lance. “You did a really good job. I’m sorry you got hurt. He was really mean to you wasn’t he?”

Keith shook his head and pouted a little. “I’m okay… My ribs just hurt a little but I’m fine. Really.”

“No, don’t lie to me honey.” He cooed. “I know you’re hurting but I can make it better. You remember the magic spell don’t you? Close your eyes honey and take my hands.” Keith seemed reluctant but did what he was told. Lance held Keith’s hands and pressed his forehead against Keith’s. “Pain, pain, go away. We don’t want you here today. Pain, pain, go away… Do you feel better now?”

Keith nodded a little and stood up. He walked to the other side of the room and grabbed a shovel. “... I’m going to get back to digging those holes.”

“You’re a good boy Keith.” Cooed Lance. “Love you!”

Keith just grunted and walked out the back door. With Keith gone, Lance’s attention turned back to him. This demonic thing grinned at him and happily walked over to him, practically on his tip toes. He did a little spin before he straddled Sendak’s hips and looked down at him.

“So… You hurt my Keith.” They growled. “You hit him. You pulled his hair. Broke his ribs, which I had to mend. You implied you were going to violate and murder him. My Keith. He is mine. Not yours.” Their eyes flashed red as their rage quickly ramped up. “You are nothing but food. How dare food threaten my property? You think I’ll just let you walk away after what you did to him? Granted I wasn’t going to let you leave here alive anyway, but I am not going to fuck you before I kill you like I did with him!”

Lance reached over and violently yanked the body of Haxus over by the throat. His eyes were glazed over and his complexion was completely drained of blood. More than likely due to the gaping hole in his chest. Sendak was petrified. He tried to wriggle out of his binds, but Lance stayed steady. He dropped the body and gently pressed a bloodied finger against Sendak’s lips.

“Quit struggling. You’re so annoying.” Their tail wrapped around Sendak’s neck and slowly started to tighten. Sendak struggled to breathe. It was impossible. This thing was going to kill him. He was going to die. Spots began to appear in Sendak’s vision, but he still had enough sight to see Lance leaning forward as he whispered into his ear. “Never, fucking ever, try to fuck with an incubui’s food.” His tail suddenly tightened and Sendak’s neck snapped like a twig.

***

It took Keith the rest of the day to dig a hole large and deep enough to bury the bodies. When he was done he walked back inside to see Lance playing with the minced up pieces of Sendak’s lung with one hand while happily munching on his heart with the other.

Keith just nodded and wrapped Haxus’s body up in a tarp and dragged it out to the pit. When he went inside again, Lance was finished with Sendak’s body, so Keith also dragged them out to the pit and buried them until there was about three feet of soil that needed to fill it in completely. Keith retrieved the road kill out the front of the house, tossed it into the pit, and finished burying it.

He went back inside and everything became routine. The two of them would clean the house, bleach everything, scrub down surfaces, wash the bedsheets and finally wash themselves. Once they were done Lance cooked dinner for Keith and happily nuzzled his neck and kissed his forehead.

“I love you.” He said quietly.

“I know.” Said Keith.

“You did a really good job.”

“Thank you.”

“I love you.”

“I know.”

“Are you still in pain?” Asked Lance. “I can make the pain go away if you’re still hurt.”

“I’m okay.” Said Keith quietly. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Lance smiled and happily kissed his cheek again. “I’m always okay when I am with you. Let’s go to bed. We have a whole month to spend here before we have to leave again. Let’s make the most of it.”

“... Okay.”

“...” Lance gently turned Keith’s head so they were facing each other. “Keith. Don’t be like that. I love you. You know that right?” It didn’t matter how many times Lance told him that he loved him. He never meant it. Not in any meaningful way. Not in the way one might assume an Incubus would love a human.

Keith just smiled weakly at him and nodded. He was tired. So very tired of all this. “Yeah. I know. I love you too Lance.”


	2. Cabin 7

Fifteen years. It had been fifteen years since Shiro had last seen Keith. It had been difficult, seeing as how Keith vanished from his life when he himself was nine years old, but Shiro was determined. Shiro had pretty much dedicated his entire life to finding Keith and in doing so he started to dig up things that caught the attention of some… Interesting people.

People that surprisingly had a shared interest in Keith, or at least the person that took Keith away from him. What Shiro found out had shocked him at first, but with the resources these people had provided him there was no way Shiro could ignore the obvious. It was staring Shiro right in the face.

Keith had been abducted by an Incubus. The Incubus was something that this organization had been trying to capture for generations. Everywhere it went they left corpses. They usually traveled with a human companion. It was theorised that the Incubus bewitches, brainwashes, or otherwise convinces humans to be their handler in the human world. They weren’t able to talk to one of the Incubi’s “handlers” since they seemed to either commit suicide or the Incubus murders them before they could be questioned. The prospect of Keith becoming this demon’s new “handler” made Shiro feel sick. 

The organization Shiro worked for had given him all the resources he needed to find Keith and bring him back alive. He finally got a good lead. Shiro got a lead in Willow Falls. A small hunting town in the middle of the woods.

So there Shiro was, standing outside of cabin seven. This was allegedly where Keith was. Where the demon was keeping him. He took a deep breath and went to the cabin door. The door was unlocked. Stealing himself for the horrors that he knew were inside, Shiro took a deep breath and opened the door.

The first thing that struck him was the strong smell of chemicals. Bleach. The whole place smelled like bleach. Just standing in the doorway he could see some tarps rolled up in a corner with some rubber gloves and a few other cleaning supplies.

“... Keith?” He whispered. “Are you here? Keith?” He took a few cautious steps inside. “Keith?” Suddenly a sharp pain filled his skull and Shiro collapsed to the ground, quickly blacking out.

***

When Shiro cale to again he was tied to a chair with an almost absurd amount of zip ties. He struggled a little, but he was completely stuck. There was no way he could get out of this. “Shit…”

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t swear.” Said an unfamiliar voice. Shiro quickly looked over at a tanned man wearing an oversized hoodie. They were standing over the stove, slowly stirring something. “I’m not a huge fan of swearing.”

They turned off the stove and poured it into a large thermos. When he was done, he picked it up and walked over to Shiro. The man was very beautiful. Completely flawless. He would have probably been completely captivated by this man, if it wasn’t for the thin, tanned tail sweeping along the floor behind them. It was the Incubus.

The Incubus pulled up a chair and sat down across from him. They seemed annoyed that Shiro was there. “So… You have been the one following us for months huh?”

Shiro was surprised. “You knew?”

“Of course I knew.” Said the Incubus. “I wouldn’t have lived this long or suffered as much as I have if I could be caught so quickly.” They took Shiro’s wallet out of their hoodie pocket, quickly removing the money and looking at the credit cards and photos. “So… Your name is; Takashi Shirogane...” He grinned. “No, you’re not the Takashi Shirogane, are you? Shiro?”

“...” He didn’t like that the Incubus knew who he was.

The Incubus just hummed and happily took some photos out of his wallet. Shiro didn’t have many photos. Just two. One of his boyfriend, Adam, and one of Keith a day before he went to the hospital. Just a small, bright eyed six year old. The Incubus took pause as he looked at Keith's photo. He had a nostalgic look on his face.

“Keith was so cute when he was a child…” Said the Incubus. “I adore children.” Shiro made a small, disgusted noise. Surprisingly this seemed to make the Incubus back track. “Whoa! I don’t mean like that! I mean they are cute! You think I would touch them? That’s gross. I just like how adorable they are. They are so sweet and innocent. You just want to protect them. You know?”

Shiro glared at them. “Where is Keith?”

“Keith has gone for a walk.” Said the Incubus. “I don’t force Keith to be with me. He is allowed to leave me whenever he wants. I don’t limit his autonomy at all. I’ve never limited any of my handler’s autonomy.”

Shiro gritted his teeth. This thing had made Keith his handler. “You bastard.” He growled. “You fucking bastard.”

The Incubus pouted. “Now what did I say about swearing? That’s not nice. By the way, the name’s Lance.”

“I don’t give a fuck what your name is.” Snapped Shiro. “How could you do that to Keith? He was a child! How could you do that to a child?”

Lance shrugged. “To be honest I didn’t make him my handler on purpose… It kind of just happened. It wasn’t like I was going to abandon Keith. He was so small and fragile… Leaving something so innocent to die must be considered some kind of sin.”

The idea of a demon worrying about the concept of sin was laughable to Shiro. “... How did you meet my brother?”

Lance smiled happily. “Oh it’s quite a lovely story. You see, my previous handler worked the night shift at the Blackwell Hospital… You should know all about that place. There was that huge fire about fifteen years ago after all...”

***

Blackwell was a relatively large town. Large enough to have its own hospital and surgery, but small enough that most nights were extremely quiet. Almost hauntingly so. This was the place that Lance had called home for the past year and a half. 

This was because his current handler, a woman named Romelle, worked at the hospital in the pediatric section of the hospital. She mainly made sure that everyone was able to sleep and woke up in the morning. Occasionally comforted parents and guardians.

Lance sighed a little as he spun around on a chair next to Romelle. He had met the young woman at a hotel. It was quite an odd thing. Lance had accidentally saved her from getting raped by a man who had brought them both to a hotel for a threeway. With Romelle passed out Lance just decided to fuck the man and eat his heart. 

Romelle had come too while Lance was in the middle of eating the man’s heart. Of course she freaked out but after some explaining they somehow managed to form a bond of respect. Romelle respected Lance’s existence as a powerful being that saved her, and Lance respected that this woman dedicated her life to saving the young.

She ended up taking Lance to her workplace at night since she was very adamant that Lance not eat any human hearts. It was annoying, but Lance respected her wish and decided that as long as she was his handler he would stick to a more liquid diet. He had done it before with previous handlers. He was nowhere near as strong when he ate hearts after sex.

“Romelle…” He whined from his seat.

“Yes Lance?”

“I wanna do something.”

“Don’t you mean someone?”

“That too, but you know… There’s nothing interesting to do.”

She shrugged. “You could go for a walk? See if anyone is awake. We have a few new children. Some broken bones and what not. I’m going through the files now. If someone’s awake, come back and tell me. Okay?”

Lance sighed and got up. He walked down the hallway. Now Lance liked children. They were cute. They had chubby cheeks and big, innocent eyes. They were very accepting and loved attention when they were sick. He was more than happy to stay by a child’s bed until they fell asleep.

He looked up at the name tags to see if there were any names that he didn’t recognize. He eventually found a new name; Keith Kogane. Interesting last name. Lance hadn’t come across a Kogane before.

Out of curiosity, Lance opened the door and peeked inside. The child on the bed didn’t move. Lance carefully walked into the room. A small boy with black hair was restlessly sleeping in the hospital bed. IV drips and heart monitors all hooked up to his body. Every once in a while his heart rate would spike, but not enough for an alarm to go off and then it would drop with the same result.

It made Lance sad to see children like this. Lance was about to grab Keith’s chart to see what was wrong with him when the little boy stirred. “A-are you a doctor?” They croaked out the little boy.

Lance looked down at him, surprised he was awake. “No, I’m not a doctor… But I can get one for you. Can’t you sleep?”

Keith shook his head. “Hurts too much.”

“What hurts honey?”

“Chest.”

Lance nodded a little and looked down at the boy’s chest. He knew Romelle wouldn’t be very happy with him, but the boy was only in a little discomfort. “You know, I can fix this without a doctor.”

“Really?”

Lance smiled and very carefully put his hand over The boy’s chest. “Yep. It’s a little magic spell I know. Just take a deep breath and close your eyes.” The boy seemed a little skeptical, but closed his eyes. Lance smiled at him and concentrated his energy flowing into his hand and into Keith’s body. “Pain, pain, go away. We don’t want you here today. Pain, pain, go away.”

Almost instantly Keith’s heart monitor evened out to something more normal. His little body wasn’t in distress anymore. He’d be able to sleep now. Keith opened his eyes and looked shocked. He stared up at Lance in aw.

“Are you an angel?”

Lance was a little surprised by that statement. Many children called him that and it always made him chuckle. They were always so innocent and always saw the good in people. “Yep. I’m a special hospital angel. I go from room to room and watch over the children to make sure they aren’t in pain so they can sleep. But you can’t tell your parents I’m here.”

“... Why?”

“Well it’s the rules. If you tell an adult I am here then a magic barrier goes up and I won’t be able to come into the room anymore.” Lied Lance. It was just easier this way.

Keith nodded, taking this all very serious. “It’s okay Mr Angel. I can’t tell my parents anyway. I don’t have parents.”

Lance was a little surprised to hear this. “Oh? Really now?”

Keith nodded. “Yep.”

“Well you still can’t tell adults. Okay? Those are the rules.”

“Okay. No adults.”

“Good boy. My name is Lance by the way. Not Mr Angel.”

“Okay. I’m Keith. I’m six.”

“And I’m well over five hundred years old. Close to six hundred.”

“Whoa… That’s old.”

Lance chuckled and patted Keith’s head. “Yes it is. Now if you even want to get close to my age you gotta get some sleep now. Okay Keith?”

“Okay Lance… Will you come by tomorrow night?”

“Only if you need help falling asleep.” Said Lance. “Now I have many other children to see tonight. You get some sleep. Goodnight Keith.”

“Goodnight Mr Lance Angel.”

Lance grinned and happily left Keith’s room. He was a cute kid. He liked them a lot. He quickly checked around the floor. Everyone was pretty much sleeping peacefully. There were a few toddlers that weren’t happy but they had their parents staying with them, so Lance didn’t bother with them.

He walked back to Romelle’s desk and sat back in his spinning chair. “You were gone for a while.” She said. “Did you talk to anyone?”

“Yeah, a six year old. Keith Kogane.” Said Lance. He couldn’t help but smile. “He’s really cute. He called me an angel.”

“I’d think that would have been an insult.” Said Romelle.

“Rude. He just meant I was really nice.” Said Lance. “... So Romelle…”

“No.”

“You don’t even know what I’m going to ask you!”

“You’re going to ask why Keith is here.” She said. “You always do that. You meet someone you think is cute and shower them with attention until they are discharged. Seriously, who would have thought an Incubus would care so much about children?”

“Please Romelle? He had chest pains and I wanna know if he has broken ribs or something.” Whined Lance. “I want to know how long I can visit that chubby cheeked cuite for.”

Romelle sighed heavily. “You’re not going to stop pleading until you get what you want, are you?”

“You know me too well.”

“Fine, but only to get you off my back.” She quickly looked through her computer until she found his file. “Let’s see, Keith Kogane he… Oh… He’s staying indefinitely…”

“Indefinitely? Why?”

“He needs a heart transplant.” Said Romelle as she continued to read. “His heart is too weak for him to stay at his foster parents home so he’s here… I just skimmed this before but wow… The poor kid has congenital heart disease. Multiple septal defects, fibrillation, and mitral regurgitation...”

“In English?”

“He has lots of holes in his heart, he has an irregular heart beat, and the valves in his heart don’t close properly so the blood flows back when it shouldn’t.”

“Oh… So he needs a heart transplant?”

“Yeah he does.” Romelle sighed. “I hate it when kids need transplants… I’m glad the people taking care of him right now seem to be well off enough to look after him… Some foster parents wouldn’t go this far for a kid they took in.”

“What if they can’t get Keith a new heart? What happens then?”

“He could possibly die of a heart attack.”

Lance frowned. He didn’t want Keith to die. He was such a sweet kid. He didn’t deserve that. He really liked children and wanted to hold them and hug them. Make sure that they were going to be safe from those kinds of things.

“There’s nothing you can do for him Lance.” Said Romelle. “You can’t save everyone… But you can try to ease their suffering. If a heart doesn’t come in soon, Keith might have to be put in the ease category.”

***

“But of course I couldn’t just leave him.” Gushed Lance. “Keith was such a cute kid. Always happy to see me and called me his angel. It was adorable.”

Shiro grimaced. He remembered this angel that Keith talked about. When he went to visit Keith a few times, when Shiro’s parents weren’t in the room, Keith told him about the hospital angel that would make his chest stop hurting when he was trying to sleep. Shiro wasn’t sure if he believed Keith or if the medication the hospital was giving him was really good. Apparently Keith had been telling the truth.

Lance smiled happily at Shiro. “He showed me his hippo that you… Oh wait! He still has it.” Lance got up and went to a duffle bag. He happily pulled it out and showed Shiro an old stuffed hippo toy. It had gone grey with age and one of the eyes had been replaced, but it was Keith’s hippo. The hippo Shiro had bought for Keith with his pocket money. “Isn’t it so cute?” Asked Lance.

“Fuck you.” Growled Shiro. He tugged at the zip ties again. He was going to strangle them. “You fucking groomed my brother! You disgusting fuck!”

Lance glared at him and put the hippo back in the bag. “I didn’t groom anyone. I never did anything perverse to a child. Just because I’m an Incubus doesn’t mean I’m going to do something as disgusting as that. I treated Keith well. I read him books every night. I sang to him. I took away his pain when his chest pain was so bad he was vomiting. I practically raised him!”

Raising Keith or not, Shiro didn’t trust this Incubus at all. Keith wasn’t a kid any more. How long did it take until Lance decided that Keith was an adult? How long until Lance decided to crawl into Keith’s bed and start touching him? If Keith saw Lance as a parental figure that would have really fucked with his head.

“Yeah, you raised him alright.” Growled Shiro.

Lance’s eyes flashed red for a moment and he grabbed Shiro’s throat, nails digging into his flesh ever so slightly. “I didn’t groom him. I would never groom a child. You want someone to blame for Keith not being around you anymore? You want to blame me for taking Keith from you? Blame them! Blame these fuckers!” 

He grabbed Shiro’s wallet and took out one of the cards. The card to the organization that Shiro had fallen in. The group that helped him realize that Lance was an Incubus in the first place.

“Marmora?”

“The Blade of Marmora.” Corrected Lance. “A group of demon hunters from the days when Paganism was the main religion of the day. They want me dead. They want my kind dead no matter what! They don’t care! They kill everyone… They don’t care who gets in the way…”

***

Lance was really enjoying his time with Keith. The child was still sickly, and some nights he was happy enough for Lance to sit next to him and sing him to sleep. Lance was happy with that. As long as Keith was happy he didn’t mind. He’d watch over Keith and make him comfortable until he was able to get a new heart.

Though one night Romelle pulled him aside. “You can’t see Keith tonight.”

“What? Why?”

“... He had a heart attack today.” Said Romelle. “He almost didn’t make it.”

Lance froze in horror. “What? I have to see him now! Why would you think I wouldn’t want to see him? I have to see him now. I have to see my Keith!”

She slapped him. Stunning him into silence. “Lance, Listen to yourself. Your Keith? Since when was Keith yours? He’s a kid! You can’t be attracted to a child like that!”

“I’m not attracted to children! I just want Keith to be safe and happy…” Said Lance quietly. “I won’t wake him up. I’ll just sit next to him and let him sleep. I won’t wake him up.” 

“... Fine. Just be quiet. Okay? Don’t wake up Keith.”

Lance nodded and went to Keith’s room. The poor kid looked like he had been hooked up to more things. It made him incredibly sad. He wanted to hug Keith and let him know it was okay. He wanted to do something for him. Anything.

He sat by Keith’s bed and gently ran his fingers through Keith’s hair. He was really out of it from all the drugs they had pumped into him to keep him stable. He probably wouldn’t wake up no matter what he did.

“... I’m sorry Keith. I wish I could help you.” He said quietly. “You’re so cute… You don’t deserve this…” He looked at Keith’s chest for a moment and considered doing something drastic. If he did this Romelle would get pissed off at him. He considered her a good friend, but he really liked Keith. “... If I can save you I will. Don’t worry Keith. I won’t let anyone hurt you. No one’s gonna hurt you. Not while I’m around.”

Lance sat by Keith and gently sang to him. He hoped that Keith would be okay. Someone would be able to give him a heart soon. Keith needed a new heart. Lance would happily trade places with Keith if he could.

Around two in the morning Lance started to smell something a little weird. It was a chemical smell that wasn’t usually in the hospital. A few seconds later he heard people walking while hearing Romelle talking kind of loudly.

Lance frowned and looked out the door. He saw Romelle talking to a man with a very long braid. He couldn’t tell when she was saying, but she seemed pissed. Suddenly someone came up behind her and put her into a choke hold. Before Lance could go out there and stop them from hurting her, he heard a crack and Romelle’s body went limp. They dropped her and the man with the braid scolded the other. The other just shrugged and started pouring chemicals around the hallway. Lance could pick it out now. It was petrol. They were pouring petrol.

He quietly closed the door and started pacing around the room. The Blade of Marmora found him again. They killed his handler this time. He couldn’t tell if it was an accident or not. He couldn’t risk it. They were going to set the building on fire to try and smoke him out. He looked at Keith. The child was definitely die if Lance abandoned him to save his own life. He wasn’t going to let that happen. He was going to save Keith.

Lance quickly took his shirt off and wrapped Keith up in it. He then very carefully started to unhook him from the machines while very quietly singing. “Pain, pain, go away, We don’t want you here today. Pain, pain, go away…” 

Lance picked up Keith and protectively held him close. He looked out the window and double checked how high up they were. They were on the second floor of the hospital. This would be fine. He held the boy close to his chest and waited for the fire to start. The second he smelled burning, Lance dived head first out the window. The fire quickly engulfed the building.

***

“So as you see, I saved Keith’s life.” Said Lance calmly. “The Blade of Marmora killed a lot of innocent people that night. You thought Keith died in the fire too didn’t you? Then you found out his body was unaccounted for and it led you down the rabbit hole.”

“How is he still alive?” Asked Shiro. “His heart conditions…”

Lance giggled. “Oh you know, secret Incubus magic. I kept Keith safe his whole life…” His smile suddenly changed and his eyes became deadly cold. “And I will keep Keith safe no matter what.” He leaned over Shiro, getting right up in his face. “No matter who comes after me or who comes after him. I will keep him safe… I won’t let you take my Keith away from me.”

Suddenly the door opened and Keith walked in. He looked tired. Though he did seem surprised when he saw Shiro tied to a chair. He looked over at Lance and raised an eyebrow. “Lance? What’s going on?”

Lance looked over at Keith and grinned. “Keith! You’re back!” He went over to Keith, hugged him and happily kissed his cheek. Keith blushed at the kiss and returned the hug. Lance grinned and pulled him over to Shiro. “Look, look, look! It’s a family reunion. Remember Shiro? You used to talk about him all the time. It’s Shiro!”

Keith seemed confused for a moment and looked at Shiro. It seemed like forever, but Keith’s eyes lit up in recognition. “Shiro…?”

Shiro smiled softly at him. “Keith…”

Keith practically jumped into Shiro’s lap and hugged him tightly. He almost started sobbing. “I-I missed you… I missed you so much...”

“I missed you too. I missed you so much.”

After a few seconds, Lance cleared his throat. “Keith… I know you missed Shiro, but remember the rules. Shiro knows I am an Incubus. No one is allowed to know I am an Incubus. Remember what I taught you? Who are the only people that know I am an Incubus?”

“... Me and bad guys?” Answered Keith in a slightly scared and confused tone.

Lance nodded. “That is right. Shiro isn’t you, is he?”

“No…”

“So that means that Shiro is what?”

“A bad guy…?”

“Very good.” He patted Keith’s back and very carefully moved him off of Shiro. “And you know what the bad guys will do to us, right?”

Keith looked over at Shiro and then back at Lance. “But Shiro’s my-”

“No he’s not.” Said Lance coldly. “Shiro is a bad guy. He’s going to kill me and then he’ll take you away somewhere. You’ll never see me again. I’ll be gone forever. Shiro is going to take you away from me.”

Each word seems to stress Keith even more to the point where it looks like he’s going to have a full on panic attack. He was shaking his head and looked like he was on the verge of tears. It broke Shiro’s heart to see how much influence the Incubus had over him.

“So here is what we are going to do.” Explained Lance. “The month is almost up, we have lots of supplies in the car, and we can get out of here. There’s just one thing you need to do first.” Lance walked over to the door, picked up a shovel and handed it to Keith. “You need to kill Shiro.”

Keith looked horrified. “B-but I… It’s Shiro… I… M-my brother...”

Lance shook his head and picked up the duffle bag and the thermos. “Keith, I’m full. I don’t need to kill him. If you want to protect me and stop people from splitting us up you need to kill Shiro. When you’re done you can come to the car. I made you some yummy beef and vegetable soup. You can have some when you kill Shiro.” With that Lance happily left the cabin to go to the car.

Shiro looked between Keith and the shovel. “... Keith, you don’t have to do this.”

“Y-you’re going to split us up…” Said Keith quietly. “I don’t want to leave him… Shiro, I can’t leave Lance… P-please tell me you aren’t a bad guy… Please tell me you didn’t come here to take me away… I don’t want to leave him…”

Shiro felt like he was losing Keith with each word. “Keith… Lance isn’t good for you. He’s an Incubus. You shouldn’t be living with him. You need to live with other humans.”

“N-no… I-I have to stay with him.” Sahd Keith. He was shaking now.

“Keith, you don’t have to stay with him anymore.” Said Shiro. “You can just cut me free and we can-”

“NO!” Yelled Keith. “You don’t understand! You fucking don’t understand!” He started to sniffle and cry. “Shiro… I can’t leave Lance… I can’t leave him…”

“I don’t care what he’s told you!” Yelled Shiro. “He doesn’t love you! He’s using you! He’s a sex demon! Sex demons do and say anything to get what they want! He’s been using you ever since you were taken to the hospital! Please Keith! You can’t keep being his handler! You’ll end up dead!” He wanted to get through to him. He had to. Keith needed to know what Lance was.

“No you don’t understand… I physically can’t leave him.” Said Keith. He turned around and lifted up his shirt. He had a gnarly looking scar on his back just under his ribcage. It looked like someone had clawed into his body. 

Shiro didn’t understand. “... What did he do to you?”

A nervous laugh escaped Keith’s lips. “Lance he… I had another heart attack and Lance saved me by sticking his hand inside me and pumping my blood by himself while he tried to figure out what to do… He did something to me. I don’t know what he did but I think he said he made me sleep and he swapped our hearts.”

“He did what?”

Keith shrugged and pulled his shirt back down. “Incubus blood has strange properties. As long as Lance is healthy and well fed his blood is mending my heart. He said it would take twenty years before my heart is fully healed… After twenty years he’ll give me back my heart and take his back.”

“No… Keith, you can’t believe him!” Said Shiro. “He’s a demon! He’s manipulating you! In five more years you’re going to be twenty six! What’s to stop him from deciding he wants to eat your heart instead? Just untie me and we can run away! I know people that will keep you safe!”

Keith smiled sadly at Shiro and turned the shovel in his hands. “I ran away from him when I was fifteen. I was angry that he didn’t like me smoking and was yelling at me for ruining my lungs… We weren’t staying in a very safe place at the time and I was almost stabbed, but he stopped it. He later told me he knew where I was because I have his heart and as long as it’s beating in my chest he’ll know where I am. He’ll always find me.”

“... I can still keep you safe.” Said Shiro. “He’s afraid of these people that I know. He’s afraid of The Blade of Marmora. They will keep you safe from him… Please Keith. I haven't given up on you after all these years… You’re my brother. I love you.”

His pleading seemed to have worked somehow. It must have broken through to him. Keith seemed nervous and unsure of himself. He looked down the shovel and started to nervously tighten and loosen his grip.

“It’s okay Keith.” Said Shiro in a calm, soothing voice. “Everything will be fine. I promise you. We will figure this out together. We always do, remember? You and me against the world. Shiro and Keith. Keith and Shiro. I love you Keith. You’re my brother.”

Keith looked so conflicted. “I… I…”

“We can just walk away.” Said Shiro softly. “You’re not in trouble. You were just a kid. I’m not mad at you. Not at all.”

“I…”

“It’s okay Keith. I love you.” Shiro wanted to reach out and hug him. He would have if the zip ties weren’t there. “You believe me don’t you?”

Keith nodded. “Y-yeah… I believe you.” Before Shiro could say anything else Keith raised the shovel and quickly brought it down on his head.

***

Keith wandered out to the car and sat in the driver’s seat. He was shaking, but still attempted to turn the keys which he failed to put in the ignition in the first place. Lance frowned a little and gently put his hand on Keith’s arm. It seemed to calm him down a fair bit.

“Is he dead?” Asked Lance. “Did you kill the bad guy?”

Keith nodded.

“... Okay.” Lance carefully turned Keith’s head and saw he had blood splatter on his face. “Well now you’re all messy. Such a messy boy.” He gently wiped the mess of Keith’s face and smiled happily at him. “There you go. You’re such a handsome young man. Give me a smile? Smile for me love?” Keith smiled weakly at Lance. “Good boy. You did such a good job protecting me.” He kissed Keith’s cheek.

“Thank you…” Said Keith quietly.

Lance smiled lovingly at him. “You want some soup now or later on?”

“Later… Not hungry.”

“Okay. As long as you eat it eventually I’ll be happy. You like making me happy, right?”

Keith nodded.

It made Lance smile when Keith agreed with him. Keith was a very good boy. Kind, loyal, cute, and handsome. He gently ran his fingers through Keith’s hair. “Keith, honey, you know I love you right? You know if there was another way I wouldn’t have asked you to kill Shiro, right? I would never ask you to do anything I didn’t think you couldn’t handle on your own. Right?”

“I-I know.” Said Keith quietly

Lance smiled and put the keys in the ignition for Keith. “Good. I love you Keith. I love you so much. I haven’t had a handler as amazing as you before.”

“I-I love you too.”

Lance grinned and kissed his cheek. “Good boy. When we get to the next gas station I’ll go in and get you a cookie. Would you like that? A cookie after your soup?”

“Y-yeah. I would.” Said Keith quietly. He started the car and started to drive.

Lance smiled and settled into his seat. He was very pleased with how things had turned out. Keith was a really good boy. He loved him so much and would do everything in his power to make sure that Keith was safe.

***

Shiro woke up with a splitting headache. It was night now. He reached up and touched his forehead. Sticky, congealed blood stuck to his face. It took him a moment for Shiro to realize he had been cut free. Cut free from the zip ties and left on the floor. Did Keith just knock him out?

He slowly stood up, almost slipping on a piece of paper.it stuck to his show and he went to peel it off and throw it away. But he realized that the paper was a note written in blood. More than likely his blood.

It was written in the same terrible handwriting he had read over and over again from his dear little brother when he was teaching him how to read and write.

_Im sowy Shero. I love you._

Keith still couldn’t spell his name right. Shiro was instantly filled a new determination. He was going to find Keith again. He was going to save him from that Incubus. Shiro was going to do everything in his power to make sure that Keith was safe.


	3. Soulmates

After Lance’s escape from the hospital he brought Keith back to Romelle’s apartment. He probably should have just left Keith outside of the hospital, but he didn’t want anyone to question why Lance had a very sick six year old in their arms. So Romelle’s place was the best place to be. They couldn’t stay very long since Romelle had just been killed. Maybe a week at most. If they were stretching it. The fire might make it hard to identify her body for a few days.

He took Keith into Romelle’s bedroom and laid the child out on the bed. He was still breathing and the drugs in his system were still working their magic. Keith would be able to sleep for a few more hours. Which was nice.

But now the Incubus was faced with a delimah. He wanted to keep Keith, but Keith had a bad heart. He could drop dead any day now. He needed a hospital with medicine to take care of him. But lance was selfish. He lightly ran his claw over the small boy’s chest and contemplated doing something very drastic.

He wanted to keep Keith. He was cute, but Keith wasn’t really his. Lance sighed. He needed to take Keith to a hospital. He’d do it the next day when the fire at the hospital was under control. He hated it, but Lance wanted what was best for him.

“Oh Keith…” He whispered. “You’re so adorable… I’d trade hearts with you if you would consent to it. I could keep it safe inside me and fix it right up for you. You would have the most healthy human heart in the world when I fixed it. You could borrow mine until yours is fixed. I don’t mind giving you my heart for a few years.”

Keith made a pained face and he slowly opened his eyes. “W-where am I?”

Lance smiled and gently squeezed his hand. “It’s okay Keith. This is my place. Something bad happened at the hospital so I brought you here.”

“... What happened?”

“... There was a fire. It was pretty bad. But don’t worry. I’ll take you back tomorrow when the fire has been all fixed.”

“Okay… Where’s my hippo?”

“Your hippo?”

“Yeah, my hippo…” Keith started to tear up. “D-did it burn up in the fire?”

Lance sighed and held Keith close. “It’s okay Keith. I’m sure your hippo is okay. We’ll find it when we go back. It will be okay.”

“P-promise?”

“Yep. Now you lie down and try to get some sleep.” Said Lance calmly. “I’m going to get some water and I’ll be right back.”

“O-okay…” Keith looked a little scared but settled into the bed quickly.

Lance smiled at him and went to get himself a shot of Vodka. It was clear like water so it was close enough. Along the way he stepped on a plush toy. He jumped a little in surprise and picked up a small, purple hippo. He must have grabbed it when he quickly bundled up Keith and took him away. This was good. He put it on the counter and quickly took a shot of Vodka to calm his nerves a little. He took a few deep breaths and headed back to the bedroom with the hippo. 

“Hey Keith. Look who I found.” He held the hippo out to Keith.

The boy’s eyes lit up. “You found them!” They took the hippo from Lance and grinned. “Thank you! Thank you so much!” Lance grinned and happily lied down next to the boy. Keith instantly snuggled up to Lance and grinned. “Thank you Lance. You’re the best.”

Lance happily ran his fingers through Keith’s hair. “You’re very welcome Keith. I would do anything for you. Are you in any pain?”

“A little.”

“Okay. I’ll fix it.” He cuddled Keith and gently sang. “Pain, pain, go away. We don’t want you here today. Pain, pain, go away.” Lance watched as Keith slowly fell asleep in his arms. Keith was such a well behaved child. He would really miss Keith when he had to give him back. He wanted to keep him. 

***

The next morning Lance woke up before Keith and went to check the news. The fire at the hospital was pretty intense. Five people died. The news was blaming someone lighting a cigarette near an oxygen tank. He changed the TV over to cartoons for Keith when he woke up and spent some time making breakfast for Keith. 

He made some pancakes and waited for Keith to wake up. About twenty minutes later Keith woke up and wandered out into the kitchen. He looked so adorable the way he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and held onto his hippo. Lance almost squealed with joy.

“Morning Keith. Did you sleep well?”

Keith nodded and sat at the table. “Pancakes?”

“Yep. All the pancakes you want.” Said Lance with a smile. He put the plate in front of Keith and poured some syrup onto them. He loved how much Keith’s eyes lit up. It was so cute. He happily sat across from Keith and watched him eat. 

It always fascinated him how humans could eat a variety of things where he could only eat a limited range of things. All things he could count on one hand. Sure he could pretend to eat other things, but he would need to vomit it later. It wasn’t fun, but if he wanted to catch food he would need to do it.

“So Keith, when you’ve finished eating we’ll get you cleaned up and take you back to the hospital. Okay?”

“... Do I have to go back?” Asked Keith. “I’m not allowed to do anything in the hospital… Just sit there and stay in bed all day. I want to go to the playroom with the other kids, but I’m not allowed to.”

“Because of your heart?”

Keith nodded. “Yeah. I have a bad heart… The only fun times is when Shiro visits me or you.”

“Shiro is your foster brother, right?” Lance already knew the answer, but he liked letting Keith talk about the things he liked. Shiro was apparently his favourite person. Which did annoy Lance a little, but he knew that feeling jealous of a nine year old was stupid.

Keith happily babbled on about Shiro and how he was the best big brother ever. How he was teaching him how to read and write better since he missed out on a lot last year because he was so sick. Lance could teach him how to do that. He could teach Keith how to do a lot of things.

“Lance?”

“Yeah honey?”

“Can I have a drink? I feel funny…”

“Sure.” Lance got up and looked through Romelle’s fridge. “Did you eat your pancakes too fast?”

“...”

“Keith?” Lance turned around just in time to see Kieth clutch his chest as he slumped over and fell out of his chair. “KEITH!” He quickly scooped up the small child in his arms and watched as pain contorted his face. Lance could feel Keith’s life force slowly leaving him. He was having a heart attack.

Lance froze. He couldn’t take him to the hospital without questions getting asked. He couldn’t call an ambulance either. He had to take drastic actions to save Keith’s life. He wasn’t going to let Keith die on him. He wasn’t going to let him leave him.

Without hesitating he pulled up Keith’s shirt and quickly felt around Keith’s back until he found where his ribs ended. Once he knew where they ended, Lance didn’t hesitate. He cut into Keith’s tiny body with surgical precision and reached inside his ribcage, careful not to puncture his tiny lung, and wrapped his fingers around his heart. He very carefully started to squeeze it and massage it. 

Keith whimpered and started crying. He was probably in a lot of pain right now, what with Lance’s hand in his chest. He soothingly ran his fingers through Keith’s hair and sang to him. “Pain, pain, go away. We don’t want you here today. Pain, pain, go away.” 

He continued to sing until Keith wasn’t crying in pain anymore. But now Lance had a pretty big problem. He needed to remove his hand from Keith’s chest, but he was scared that if he did then Keith’s heart would stop and he’d die. Keith sniffled and clutched at Lance’s arms. He was scared. Not that Lance could blame him. This wasn’t a very normal situation. The only way Lance could make this better would be if he did something even more drastic. For Keith, it would be worth it.

“Hey Keith?”

“Y-yeah?” Whimpered the boy.

“I… I need to ask you an important question… Do you want to go to sleep for a long, long time, or do you want to watch some cartoons with me?”

“I-I want to watch cartoons…”

A small smile made its way onto Lance’s face. His form very carefully shifted into its true Incubus form. In this form he let his tail reach out and take out a large knife from the knife block in the kitchen.

“I thought you would say that.” Said Lance quietly. “I love you Keith.” 

Without hesitation, Lance wrapped his hand around Keith’s little heart and ripped it out. He had to work quickly now. He laid Keith out on the floor and took the knife in his hand and plunged it into his chest. He was a lot stronger than a normal human so he very easily broke through his own ribs and lung to reach his own heart. He ripped out the organ and had a quick look at it. His heart had a blue hue to it. A little different compared to Keith’s small, red one.

Lance very carefully pushed the heart into Keith’s body and kept his fingers on the heart until he could feel it beating on its own. While that was happening, Lance picked up Keith’s heart and plopped it into his now vacant chest cavity. His own body would quickly heal and start to repair Keith’s small damaged heart. It would take a few years but it would happen. When he felt his heart beating inside Keith’s chest he very carefully removed his hand and wiped his thumb across the wound. It quickly healed.

Keith gasped for breath and coughed. His small body was shaking uncontrollably. Lance picked him up and held him close. “It’s okay Keith. Everything is fine. You’re okay now. I love you.”

The small boy continued to shake in fear and trauma. It broke Lance’s heart, but he just held the small boy closely until he calmed down. When Keith had stopped shaking he looked up at Lance with wide, fearful eyes.

“You’re not an angel, are you?”

Lance smiled sadly and shook his head. “No. I’m the opposite of an angel. I’m a demon. But I don’t hurt children. I hurt mean adults. So I decided to protect you. If I was mean I would have just let you die just now. But I didn’t. Did I?”

“... I guess so.”

“Yeah… Now we’re both kind of bloody. I think you should have a bath now. Don’t you?” He picked up Keith and smiled at him. “You’ll feel better after a nice warm bath.”

Keith nodded but had a confused look on his face. “... My chest doesn’t hurt anymore… What did you do Mr Lance demon?”

Lance chuckled a little and walked to the bathroom. “Well I am a special kind of demon. Not only can I take away pain I can do this special thing where I can swap organs with people. So I swapped your heart with mine.”

“But my heart is bad!” Said Keith in an alarmed tone. “You’ll die!”

Lance kisses his cheek. “Nope. My body is special. Over the next few years my body will slowly fix your heart so it’s perfectly healthy. I just need to keep myself healthy for it to work. Once your heart is better I can give it back to you.”

“... You’ll give it back to me?’

Lance nodded of course. “If you want your heart back I will give it back to you. Until then my heart will beat inside your chest and keep you safe.” He walked into the bathroom and sat him down on the toilet while he went about running him a bath. “Once you’re all clean I can take you back to the hospital. Do you need any help getting clean?”

Keith shook his head. “I’m a big boy. I can do it.”

“Okay. Get undressed and get in the water.” Said Lance. He turned around to face the door. “I won’t turn around until you’re in the tub. He turned away and wrapped his wings around himself, encasing himself in darkness. “Not looking.” He said in a sing-song voice.

Keith giggled a little and Lance heard the sound of Keith’s feet hitting the tiles. Keith’s clothes hitting the floor. Keith’s little feet tapping across the floor. Keith making a small splash when he got into the bathtub.

“Okay.” Said the boy. “I’m in the tub.”

Lance looked over and smiled at him. “Good boy. Now, I’m going to clean your clothes. Call me if you need anything.”

“Okay.”

Lance picked up the clothes and walked out of the room. They were ruined. There was no way Lance could let Keith wear these. He tossed them and went to the lounge room after he washed his hands. Romelle, bless her kind soul, had been collecting clothes for donations. Most of them were children’s clothes too. He grabbed things he felt that would fit Keith and waited for the boy to be finished.

Keith called out for Lance once he was done and Lance helped him get dry and dressed in new clothes. Once he was dressed, Lance took Keith out to the lounge room and sat him on the couch. They needed to have a serious talk.

“Okay. How are you feeling Keith?” He asked.

The boy smiled and nodded. “Yeah! I feel a lot better! Better then I have ever felt before! Thank you!”

Lance grinned and ruffled his hair. “Aw, think nothing of it honey. I’d do anything for you. Now, we should get going. We need to get you back to the hospital before anyone freaks out too much.”

“No.”

“... No?” Lance was confused. “Why not?”

Keith nodded as he cuddled his hippo. “No. I don’t wanna go back to the hospital. I hate it.”

“What about your family?” Asked Lance. “Don’t you want to be with your parents again? And Shiro?”

The boy’s shoulders slumped and he shrugged. “I like Shiro, but adults don’t like me…”

“I like you.”

“I know… So can I stay with you? Please?”

Lance was shocked. Keith wanted to stay with him? He actually wanted to be with him? Keith was so precious and innocent. This perfect sweet child wanted to be with him. Him of all people. He wrapped his arms around Keith and hugged him tightly.

“Oh course! You can stay with me forever!”

Keith giggled and hugged back. “Yay! But you gotta promise that when you mean forever you mean forever. Okay? No take backs.”

Lance grinned and cuddled him more. “Of course I’m gonna stay with you forever. As long as you have my heart I’ll stay with you.”

“Then I’m not gonna give it back.” Said Keith with a grin. “Then we can stay together forever!”

Lance smiled and squished his cheeks. “Yep. But I’m a demon-”

“A good demon.”

“-and I can’t stay here any longer. If you’re going to stay with me you need to be happy with moving around a lot.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “I’m a foster kid. I move around all the time.”

“Fair enough. Let’s get packing.” 

The two of them started packing things into a duffle bag and a smaller backpack. Lance double checked both of the bags were filled with things they needed, like food and water for Keith, some clothes, money, and of course Keith’s hippo. When that was done, Lance happily picked up Keith and the two of them left Romelle’s apartment. Lance silently thanked the blond woman for taking care of him for so long. Without her, he never would have met his Keith.

***

The two of them went around from town to town and lived a relatively happy life. Getting food for Keith was easy. Lance was an excellent pickpocket and shoplifter. It wasn’t much but Lance was always able to get a nice enough place for them to stay for a few days before they had to move on. Things were good for them. Though there was one thing that the two of them did argue about. Lance’s eating habits.

Lance didn’t tell Keith what kind of demon he was or what he ate. He didn’t want to traumatise the poor boy. He didn’t even know when humans needed to start learning about sex. He assumed when Keith hit puberty, so telling the child he needed to eat seman to survive was kind of a bad thing. Plus he kind of did eat human hearts too after sex, somthing else Keith didn’t need to know.

“I need to go and get some food for myself!”

Keith threw a bag of potato chips at him. “We have food here!”

“I need demon food! Please Keith,” pleaded Lance. “I’ll only be gone for two hours at most. You’ll be safe in here. Just keep the doors locked and don’t let anyone in. Your dinner is still on the table.” He pointed to a microwave mac and cheese meal on the table. They were currently staying in a small motel off a highway. They had enough microwaveable meals for Keith to survive for several days, but Lance hadn’t eaten in a month. He was at his wits end. At this point he was going to jump the first man he saw.

Keith pouted and stamped his foot. “No! You have to stay!”

“I can’t stay!”

“Take me with you!”

Lance snapped. He picked Keith up and threw him on the bed, making him bounce before he crouched over him and growled. “Listen here. I need to eat. I haven’t been able to eat all month. You’ve been able to eat several times a day. It isn’t fair. I need food too. Do you want me to die? You want me to starve to death? Is that it?”

Keith froze for a moment before he started crying. Keith crying always snapped Lance out of whatever frenzy he had worked himself into. He sighed and held Keith close. He gently rocked the boy in his arms.

“I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have done that. You deserve better.” Said Lance quietly. “I-I’ll stay with you tonight. So please don’t cry…”

“Really? You’ll stay?” Sniffled Keith.

Lance’s stomach growled in protest. “... Yeah. I’ll stay with you. So don’t cry anymore…”

“...” Keith snuggled into Lance’s chest. The proximity to Keith at this time made Lance slightly uncomfortable. He needed food really badly and Keith wanted him to be there with him. He was so hungry. He hadn’t felt this hungry in decades. His stomach felt like it was eating itself. “... Are you really hungry?”

Lance sniffled a little. “Y-yeah… I need to get special demon food.”

“... Can I feel you?” Asked Keith. “I can feed you.”

Lance chuckled a little and patted his head. “Sorry Keith. You’re much, much too young to help feed me.”

Keith pouted at him. “Yes you can. You drink blood, right? You always come back with some blood on your face and claws, right? You can drink some of my blood.”

“...” Lance couldn’t help but smile and hug him. Keith was much too sweet and innocent. “Sorry Keith. The food I eat is very, very special. You can’t give me my special food. I need to go out and get it.”

“Then take me with you…”

“I can’t.” Said Lance quietly. “Keith, you could get hurt and I don’t want you to see me while I am eating… It isn’t pleasant.”

“... I don’t want you to leave me.”

“Keith, I’ll never leave you. I’ll always come back for you.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

“... Okay. A-as long as you do come back I don’t mind…”

“I will come back. I promise.”

“Okay, go and get demon food.” Keith got off Lance’s lap but still looked upset.

“... I’ll be quick. I promise.” Lance quickly got up and made sure Keith was comfortable and the crappy black and white TV was on a child friendly movie. “I’ll be back around the time the movie finishes. Okay?”

“Okay…”

Lance knew Keith was just scared of being abandoned, but he needed to do this. He needed to eat and to do that he needed to leave Keith for a while. Lance quickly found a partner for the evening and was able to feed pretty well. Before he went back to Keith, Lance did buy him a cookie to make up for getting angry at him. 

***

Lance liked to think they had more good times than bad times. When they had enough money, Lance would always take Keith out to fun places. Especially when it was his birthday. They two of them were celebrating four happy years together. Keith got to pick what they were going to do that day and Keith made his decision. Keith wanted to go to the zoo. It was the only place he could see hippos up close.

“Look! Look! Look!” He called to Lance as he pointed to a hippo just sitting in the water. It was wiggling their ears. “They wiggle!”

Lance chuckled as he walked over to the excited boy. “Yes. Yes they do.” He stood behind Keith and gently patted his head as he leaned as far over the railing as his little body would let him. It was cute how excited he was getting over seeing something so deadly. He kind of wondered if Keith was drawn to him because he was as dangerous as a hippo? Though Lance was pretty damn sure he had a much higher body count than a hippo.

Once they were done with the hippos they went and looked at the nocturnal animals. They had gone during a weekday so there weren’t that many people around. The two of them were practically alone.

“Hey, this one looks just like you.” Keith pointed at a ghost bat stretching its wings and yawning. It was cute, but Lance didn’t feel like he was the same as a ghost bat. Just because they had similar wings.

“Oh really now?”

“Yep! They have wings like you! But yours are prettier.”

“Aw, you think my wings are pretty.” He picked Keith up and happily pointed out some smaller nocturnal animals scampering around the ground. Keith watched in awe at the creatures. It made Lance smile as Keith pointed them out and talked just that little too loudly. Just being around Keith made Lance’s heart flutter ever so slightly and sometimes it would tighten. Though if Lance was being honest he didn’t know if that was because Keith’s heart really was that sickly, or if these were the feelings of paternal love he had heard so much about.

***

Lance’s mama once told him when he himself was a child, that everyone and everything alive was linked to another through some form or another. This bond didn’t have to be positive. It could be negative, but you would always be linked to this person. Humans weren’t very intune to this feeling and often only focused on the positive. Hence why they had come up with the term soulmates, but only thought it applied to romance.

Humans were silly creatures. But demons were smarter. They could tell when they were meant to be linked to someone. It could be instant or take a few years, but they would always be able to tell. Especially when something tragic happens. When that happened the bonds would solidify and you would know. You would just know.

Like now. Lance had started to give Keith some of the money he had managed to steal so he could buy his own clothes and food if he wanted to, but Keith had been an idiot and bought a packet of cigarettes. He found Keith leaning out of the window and smoking at fifteen years of age. Lance was pissed. Cigarettes were expensive and ruined the lungs of humans.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” He growled as he snatched it out of Keith’s mouth and took the pack off the table. “You know how bad these things are? You want tar in your lungs? Throat cancer? Gangrene? How much were these? … $50? Fucking $50? I gave you $50 to buy food for yourself this week! Not this shit! Who the fuck gives a kid this shit anyway?”

Keith rolled his eyes. He was such a moody teenager lately. Must have been that teenage rebellion people on TV always bitched about. Lance didn’t understand it. He had taken care of Keith for almost as long as Keith had been alive. Did Lance not give a shit about that anymore?

“Hey, you’re the one that gave me money. You said I could buy anything I wanted with it.” Snapped Keith. “I bought cigarettes. Leave me the fuck alone.”

Lance couldn’t help but snarl. “So you want to use your money to buy shit that’ll ruin your life? Why not start buying meth or heroin? A bit of crack? If you are going to ruin yourself go for the real hard stuff!”

“Fuck you!” Snapped Keith. “I don’t have to deal with this! I’m practically an adult!” He stormed towards the door with Lance following him.

“Where are you going?”

“OUT!” He stormed out of the motel room and slammed the door behind him.

Lance growled and threw himself onto the mattress. Keith was being a selfish and moody asshole. He was just doing what was best for the boy. If he wanted something to do they could do something together. He didn’t have to go out and smoke. Did he not like colouring books anymore? Did he outgrow toys? When Keith came back Lance was going to have to punish him for acting out. He didn’t have to do that much when Keith was growing up because he was so well behaved.

His chest tightened a little and a feeling of anxiety washed over him. Because Keith had his heart and he had his, they were linked. He could tell where Keith was at all times and if he was in trouble. Like right now. They were currently living in the more run down parts of the city they were in. More than likely Keith was going to get mugged soon.

He sighed and slipped out of their room. It was starting to get dark. Still, Lance hummed and happily walked along the street as he slowly got closer and closer to Keith. He peeked around a corner and looked at two men pinning his Keith to a wall. One of them had a knife. They looked like they were mugging him. 

Keith looked so scared and it made Lance anxious. He sighed a little and walked down the alley and put on his best smile. “Hey guys.” He said with his usual flirtatious inflection. “What are you doing messing with some poor boy?”

The men glared at Lance for a moment and snapped at him. “Get lost. This has nothing to do with you.”

Lance resisted the urge to turn this into a bloodbath. He turned his charm up and decided to mesmerize them as best he could. He was an Incubus. He could easily enchant these people. “Come on guys. He’s just a kid. What did he do? Steal from you? I can easily pay back what he owes you.” 

The men seemed a little hesitant, which was understandable. They might have been straight. Straight people were usually hard to convince to fuck him. That and asexuals. Asexuals were the fucking worst. It was just easier for him to cut his losses with them.

Lance continued to smile at them as he slowly walked closer and tried to stare them in the eyes. The longer he prolonged eye contact the better. “Come on.” He said. “I’m sure adults can talk this out better than a simple child.”

When he was close enough, Lance’s eyes flashed red and he lunged at them. Without hesitation Lance punched his hand through the first man’s chest while his tail impaled the other. Both died pretty much immediately. After centuries of practice Lance knew just where to hit them to kill them.

He let their bodies slide off his arm and tail. Well, since they were already dead it was a waste no, want not situation. Lance Happily picked their body apart to get to their hearts. He was already starting on the next one when he remembered Keith was there.

He looked over at the teen who had slipped down to the ground. He looked pale as a sheet. Come to think of it he’s never told Keith what he ate before had he? Well now was as good a time as any, right. He smiled sweetly at the boy with blood and meat in his teeth.

“I guess I never told you what kind of demon I was did I?” He asked. Keith shook his head slowly while keeping his eyes firmly on Lance. “I’m an Incubus. The only things I can eat are human hearts and seman. The physical energy one can harvest from a woman having an orgasm works too.”

He stood up and wiped the blood off of his hands and onto the men’s clothes before he went through their pockets and robbed them. He found a small bag of whit powder and tossed it at Keith along with some money. The teen looked up at him in confusion.

Lance just smiled and shrugged. “If you want to ruin your life go ahead and snort that. Do whatever you feel like Keith. I’ve only ever looked after you and done what is best for you, but if you think you know better. If you think you can survive on your own you can. But the plan to leave tomorrow is still going to happen. Goodbye.”

Lance calmly left the alley and walked by to the motel and made sure all their things were packed. Half an hour later there was a knock at the door and Lance opened it up, smiling brightly at Keith. His head hung low as he stood in the doorway.

“So you came back huh?” He asked the teen.

Keith nodded. “Y-yes.”

“Why?”

“... I was an idiot. Y-You do protect me… Y-You saved my life again.” He said quietly. “Have you done that before?”

Lance chuckled and put his hand on Keith’s chest while gently tilting his chin up so they were facing each other. He couldn’t help but smile at the teenager. “Of course I have. As long as my heart is beating in your chest I will always know where you are. I’ll always know if you are in danger. When that happens I will swoop in and save you… And do you know why? Because I promised you that as long as you have my heart I’ll be with you. I’m going to be with you forever and ever and ever.”

For a moment there was fear behind Keith’s eyes, but that quickly fizzled out. His pretty grey eyes became lifeless and dull. When that happened Lance felt his breath catch in his throat as he realised something. Keith really was his soulmate. He gave Keith the chance to leave him but he didn’t. He came right back to him. 

Keith might not know it at this moment, or maybe he was starting to realize it, but they were soulmates. They would be bound together for the rest of their lives. For better or worse for the rest of their lives.

In that moment Lance almost wanted to pull Keith inside and lay a physical claim on the teens body and soul. Make it clear to everyone that Keith was his and his alone to do with as he pleased. Out of all the people he had fed off in the past he was sure that Keith would taste the best and make the cutest noises.

But he didn’t. Though he wanted to he instinctively knew that Keith wasn’t food. He was just a child still. Something he couldn’t eat without feeling sick for days after. His food had to mature. The earliest he could even consider feeding from Keith was when he was in his early twenties at best. Nineteen if he matured faster than average.

He pulled Keith into a hug and dragged him back inside. “I’m glad you came home to me Keith. I love you so much right now you wouldn’t believe it. I love you Keith. You love me too right?”

“I…”

“... Keith?”

“...”

“Keith.”

“I-I love you too…”

“Good boy.” He kissed Keith’s cheek and went to the shitty motel kitchen. “Looks like you’re having microwaved spaghetti for dinner tonight. You good with that? I’ve already eaten tonight so we can spend the whole evening together.”

“O-Okay…”

Lance smiled lovingly at Keith and happily went about microwaving his food. He couldn’t be happier. Keith was his and his alone, even more so than before. In time Keith would come to realize the bond that they had was more powerful and perfect than anything in the mortal world. Lance would take care of Keith until he realized this was the case. That their bond, the thing that drew them together was love.


	4. Little wolf

Keith very carefully patted down the soil with his shovel. Lance’s last meal and been a little more resistant than the others. Lance had brought someone else back to their current residence, he fed from them, and just when Lance was about to feed from them they started fighting back.

Normally wouldn’t step in to help Lance since the Incubus was pretty well adapted at taking care of himself. Hell if he really wanted to he could use his tail to murder somone. He had done it before. Still, Keith worried about Lance and hid in the bathroom whenever Lance brought someone over. He hid in there with a shovel just in case he needed him. Like that night.

When he fought back Lance called out for help and Keith immediately ran out of the bathroom and cracked the guy in the head with the shovel as hard as he could. He wasn’t sure if he killed them or knocked them out. 

Either way, Lance threw his arms around Keith and couldn’t stop thanking him and praising him for helping him. He’d kiss his cheek and told him now much he loved him. How proud he was. How good Keith was. How Keith was the most amazing person ever. Then just as quickly as Lance was in his arms, he was back on the body and opening up his chest to get to his heart.

So now Keith was doing his job. Burying the lucky ones. The lucky ones… Keith wanted to be one of the lucky ones. Ever since he realized that Lance was a heart eating Incubus he couldn’t help but feel completely hollow inside. He was either an emergency food source for the demon or his pet. A little pet human. If Lance socialised with other demons when he was out they would probably laugh at Keith’s fate. He was just an emergency food pet for a sex hungry demon.

Granted Lance had never actually pushed Keith to have sex with him, even when he was hungry. Lance never demanded that Keith lie back and spread his legs for him, though he probably could have forced him to. Hell, Keith knew Lance could force him to. He was strong enough, but he never did. That didn’t mean they hadn’t had sex before. 

The first time they had sex Keith was nineteen and the two of them were in the middle of nowhere on the road. Lance was going on two months without eating. The demon was curled up in the back seat of the car quietly sobbing and asking if there was a truck stop close by so he could eat. Keith ended up pulling over and got into the backseat with Lance. 

Keith thought he was going to die, but he didn’t, and in all honesty it wasn’t that bad. Though that was probably because he thought that Lance was going to end up murdering him when they were done. Instead Lance held him and cried. It was so confusing. Lance had fucked hundreds of people before him. 

“It’s because you know I’m an Incubus and you still fed me.” Lance had said. It looked like he was serious too. Keith didn’t question it. He was just happy that Lance wasn’t angry at him or something. Lance was hard to understand sometimes. 

Keith sighed and continued to pack away the dirt. The luckys one got to rest. They didn’t have to keep living on in the confusing hell that he did. He felt sick. 

_“Little wolf…”_ Whispered a small voice. _“Hey! Hey little wolf! Over here!”_

Keith sighed and used his shovel to lift up a bush. Under the bush was the rotting corpse of a dead bird. Keith didn’t know if his mind had finally snapped and he had gone crazy, or if this was because he had an incubus heart beating in his chest, but sometimes dead things would talk to him. They weren’t particularly malicious, but Lance did advice not to take the words of dead things too seriously.

“What do you want?” Asked Keith quietly.

 _“Are you still with the hunter, little wolf?”_ They asked. 

“Yeah.” The dead things always called him little wolf and Lance was hunter. It was a little unnerving, but Keith was used to these kinds of things now. “Things are fine now.”

 _“You’re lying little wolf.”_ Said the dead bird. _“We know everything that is dead. You told the hunter you would kill them. But you didn’t you hurt them, but you didn’t kill.”_

Keith nervously swallowed. “What are you talking about? I… I’ve always done what I’m told. I-I’m a good boy… I’m good for Lance.”

_“Lies. The little wolf is a lying liar who lies.... The hunter is going to find out soon. They will find out what you did and they will punish you. You know what they are capable of. Do you really think they will just scold you and leave it at that? No. They will abandon you.”_

“... No.”

 _“They will. They will. They will.”_ Gleefully chirped the dead creature. _“The old dog is still alive and the hunter will cast you aside. Abandon you and leave you for dead in this cruel-”_ Keith stomped on the skeleton and crushed it. He didn’t want it to tell him how Lance was going to leave him for being bad. 

Keith wasn’t bad. He just didn’t want Shiro to die just because Lance told him to. Shiro just wanted what was best for him and he felt that it might have been the same as Lance? They just wanted what was best for him. He wanted them both to be happy. It would be easier if Shiro just stopped trying to find him. He hoped that he would stop. He had left him a note for him after all.

He sighed and ended up walking back inside their tiny little motel. Lance was already dressed back in his usual dark blue hoodie that hung around his thighs and booty shorts so small they might as well be considered underwear. 

The demon smiled lovingly up at Keith and reached out for him. Keith easily fell into the familiar comfort of the demon’s arms. The demon hummed happily and walked backwards until they both fell backwards onto the cheap motel bed.

Lance looked up at him and made very pleased crooning noises. He ran his fingers through Keith’s hair. “You’re so good to me.” He said softly. “You’re such a good boy for me. I love you Keith. I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” Parroted Keith. His words of love were relatively hollow. He cared for Lance and didn’t want anything bad to happen to him, but he felt trapped by him. Lance had trapped him and there was no real way of escaping. All he could do was try and mirror the kind of love Lance was showing him.

The demon giggled and put his hands on Keith’s face, gently squeezing his cheeks. “Yay, you love me.” He gently rubbed his thumbs along his cheek bones and looked up at him with adoration. “I love your eyes. They are pretty. Like doll eyes.”

“Really?”

“Yep. Pretty doll eyes.” He sat up and gently kissed Keith’s cheek. “Everything about you is pretty and adorable. Things I just love. I love you. I love you so much… You were so good to me today, we can go out and eat dinner somewhere tasty. There was a lovely looking diner we can go to. I’m sure you will like it. Let’s go there and get you dinner. You’ll like that, right?”

Keith smiled and nodded. “Sounds perfect… Can I have ice cream?”

“Yes you can, but no more than two scoops. You get a tummy ache when you eat too much ice cream.”

***

They got to the diner and sat in a booth. Keith couldn’t really read what was on the menu, even though he did try. Some words he did recognize, but that was because he had seen them written on packaged food. So he knew words like chicken, pizza, and burger, but other words were difficult for him. Most of the time he would just ask Lance for something, or the closest thing to it.

Lance was more than happy to order for the both of them when the waitress came around. He ordered Keith a large burger with chips and extra bacon and a large iced tea. He got water for himself. Keith knew that Lance didn’t normally eat or drink human foods. They would make him sick, but he was okay with having water.

When Keith got his food he ate quickly. He didn’t really like being outside much with other people. He preferred to be around Lance. It was kind of silly really. He was kind of scared of other people. He didn’t really have conversations with people. Lance was the one that did the talking.

He tried not to look at Lance while he ate. Lance seemed to like watching him eat. It looked like he was fascinated with the way he was eating. Like he didn’t know how Keith could eat what he did. When he was younger it was kind of funny, but now it was kind of creepy. He felt like he was an animal on display for Lance. 

He quickly finished his food and drink. Lance hadn’t even drank a third of his water. Lance smiled brightly at him. “Want some ice cream? They have vanilla, chocolate and strawberry.”

“S-strawberry… Please.” He said quietly. Keith started scrunching up his napkin.

Lance reached over and gently held his hand. “Cup or cone?”

“Cup… Please. Can I have two scoops?”

Lance grinned and gently squeezed his hand. “I’ll go and get you that. Then we can go back to our room.” He got up and went to talk to the woman behind the diner.

Keith sighed quietly and stared down at the table. He wondered what his life would have been like if Lance didn’t take him from the hospital. Realistically he might be dead, but maybe he could have survived the fire and have gotten a new heart? He might still be living with Shiro’s family.

Thinking about Shiro made him sad. He hoped he didn’t hit Shiro too hard. If he knew how to look up the news on a computer or his phone he would see if there was anything about him out there. He didn’t even have a phone.

Lance came over and handed the ice cream out to Keith. “Here you go. Let’s head back.”

Keith nodded and followed Lance out of the diner and down back to their motel. He quietly ate his ice cream along the way. It was kind of hard and melted a little too quickly. It was kind of disappointing. 

When they got back to their room Lance slipped behind him and loosely wrapped his arms around Keith’s torso. The demon hummed softly as he lightly tugged at his shirt and rested his chin againstKeith’s shoulder.

“Keith…” He purred softly. “Keeeeeeeeith.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay?” He asked. “You’ve been very quiet lately. More so than normal… Are you still sulking because of Shiro?” When Keith said nothing, Lance tightened his grip on Keith’s clothes a little. “He was going to seperate us. I don’t know if I can live if I’m separated from you… And who knows what would happen to you if he took you away? You’d be so alone… All alone without me… I don’t want you to be alone.”

“I… I don’t want you to be alone either.” Said Keith quietly. 

Lance made a small pleased sound. “I won’t. I won’t ever leave you Keith. You’ll never be alone as long as you stay with me. You want to stay with me, right?”

“...” Keith nodded and placed his free hand on one of Lance’s. “I do want to stay with you. I really do… Please stay with me…”

“I will Keith. I always will. I’ll stay with you forever… Let’s go to bed. Okay?”

***

Later that night when Keith was peacefully asleep, Lance slipped out of the bed and headed outside to enjoy the moon. He hummed at little. The moon was waxing and they were clouds rolling in. There was probably going to be rain tomorrow. Perfect snuggle weather.

 _“You’re only going to hurt him in the end.”_ Whispered a voice from the space under the stairs leading up to their door. It was a dead, stray cat. It had been there a while too. It was just a skull. Lance had noticed it when they first entered the room, but as long as they didn’t bother Keith he didn’t mind.

“Shut up. I’m not going to hurt Keith. I love him. He’s my most beloved human.” Said Lance calmly. “I’m never going to let anyone hurt him. I’m going to keep him safe…”

_“Even if he tries to leave you again?”_

“He was a dumb teenager back then.” Said Lance. “Besides if he tries to run away from me again… I can just take away his legs. It would be a shame though. His legs are useful and pretty.” He sighed. “If we can eventually find a place where we can live together peacefully, like a secret bunker, I’ll hide him away from the rest of the world… Make our own little world together where no one will find us or hurt us.”

_“And they say humans are crazy.”_

Lance chuckled. “Yeah, I guess that’s true… But we technically have five more years together until he can ask for his heart back at the latest.” He grinned. “He hasn’t asked for it back yet. After twenty years it will be too late. I’d just be giving my love another incubus heart.”

_“You’re a wicked creature hunter. You do nothing but hurt the little wolf. You’re driving him closer and closer to us. We will welcome the little wolf with open arms, like we do with all humans.”_

Lance rolled his eyes and tapped his foot against the step. “Tell me something I don’t know Reaper.”

 _“The little wolf couldn’t kill the old dog.”_ Whispered the cat skull. _“The little wolf couldn’t bring himself to kill him. We welcome all who return to dust and dirt, but they are not among our numbers.”_

Lance scoffed. “I said tell me something I don’t know. When Keith kills for me he is calm and his eyes are completely blank. Keith was scared and shaking horribly when he went into the car.” He sighed and sat on the step. In the dead of night he could see the creeping shapes of lesser demons. These creatures were always drawn to the scent of blood and stronger demons. Naturally they were both curious and cautious of him. Lance picked up a rock and threw it at them just to watch them scatter. 

_“Why keep the little wolf if he isn’t obedient? Throw him away. Either kill him or let him live on his own.”_

“I will do neither.” Said Lance as calmly as ever. “Keith is mine to do with as I please. Keith is my most precious one. I plan on keeping him forever. If it came down to it and I was no longer able to keep Keith for whatever reason I’m not above a murder suicide… Though it’s very difficult for a thing like me to die… I’d need to be drowned in acid.”

_“Little wolves need to be set free.”_

“Do you really think you should be giving relationship advice?” Asked Lance. “You’re the manifestation of death given sentience. You’re all about letting go and moving on while accepting the inevitable.” 

_“It does not mean I am wrong.”_

Lance rolled his eyes and stood up, stretching. “Well, good talk. I’m going to go inside and contemplate cutting off Keith’s legs.”

Before they could say anything else Lance walked inside and crawled back into bed with Keith. He loved how the man would instinctively curl up into him for comfort. Lance smiled and lightly ghosted his fingers over Keith’s thighs. They were pretty, soft, and white. If he had to he could remove just above the knee on both legs. If he tried to hit him and push him away, he could take his arms just below his shoulder. If he tried to talk back back or bite him he could take out his tongue and remove his teeth. Break his spine so he’d stop struggling… 

He almost chuckled at the silly thought of it all. He’d be just like all the other Incubi that liked to play with humans if he did that. Besides if he did that Keith would be no better than a living sex doll. Some demons would love that idea, but Lance liked being held by his partners. He didn’t want some sex toy he could roll out and use any time he pleased. He just wanted Keith as he was.

He leaned forward and gently kissed Keith’s forehead. Beautiful, perfect Keith. He loved him. He loved him so much. He loved Keith and would stay with him forever. Keith was always going to be his and his alone. Sure he made mistakes, but he was human. Humans made mistakes. But if Keith made another mistake like that he would have to punish Keith severely for it.


	5. Family

Keith whimpered as Lance roughly shoved him up against the side of the barn. He had one hand delicately wrapped around Keith’s neck and jaw. With Lance’s other hand he pinned Keith’s shoulder to the wall. There was a dark glint in his eyes as the Incubus leaned in close to him.

“You smell so fucking good.” He groaned in a low voice. “Your scent’s been driving me fucking crazy. Where were you going Keith? Trying to run away while I was distracted?”

Keith whimpered again and kept his eyes screwed shut. He was scared. He didn’t know why Lance was acting like this. He told Lance he was going for a walk. He had been good. He’d been very good over the past few days. Why was Lance trying to hurt him? He didn’t understand.

The Incubus hummed as they roughly jerked his head to the side, exposing his neck. He smirked and slowly licked him, starting from his collar bone and tracing along his jugular until he hit his jaw bone. “You taste so good Keith.” He purred. “I’m going to eat you up right here. You better scream for me cutie.”

“L-Lance…” He choked out. “I-I’m sorry.”

“Hmm? What are you sorry for?” Asked Lance. “What did you do wrong?”

“I-I don’t know.” Cried Keith. “I-I-I honestly don’t know… P-please…” He knew he was ugly crying now. “Y-You weren’t like this before. I-”

“I’m a sex demon.” Growled Lance. “You’re my food. Now be a good little piece of food and strip down.” He threw Keith onto the ground and struck him with his tail. “Fucking strip. I’m hungry.”

***

Three days earlier the two had been driving down an old country road to their next destination. Lance had been playing with the radio stations until he found until he found one where some man was doing that good old gospel bible thumping. They were yelling some stuff about the fornicators and the adulterers. Lance grinned and happily started mocking them like it was nothing.

“No PaRaDiSe FoR ThE FoRnIcAtOrS!” He mocked in a cartoonish voice. “No room for the cartoon watchers and the republicans either. Fuck the demicrats too. Ah, fuck it. Everyone gets to go to hell!”

Keith did have to admit hearing him talk like that did make him smile. Lance always did make an effort to make sure he was happy. Some days were tough, but these kind of made up for it. He was pretty sure they had more good days then bad.

Suddenly some weird static came over the radio and Lance immediately perked up. Keith would have questioned it but he knew better than to do that. The Incubus suddenly got very excited. “Keith! Keith! Keith! Make a right turn up here! Do it! Do it! Do it!” 

He shrugged and turned at the next left onto a dirt road. After twenty minutes of driving as Lance became increasingly excited, they came to a rundown and abandoned looking farmhouse and barn.

The second Keith stopped the car Lance jumped out and ran to the door. “Mama?!” He called. “Mama?! Are you there?”

Keith froze. “Mama?” He whispered. Was Lance’s mother here? Maybe she was friendly? But what if she mistook him as food that Lance brought along? He looked over at Lance and saw a woman walk out of the house. She didn’t even bother hiding her winds or tail. Her hair was short and she had glasses. She was pretty. Should he get out? Should he stay here? Was he going to get hurt? He hadn’t met any other demons before.

Lance went back to the car and happily pulled Keith out and dragged him towards the woman. “So Veronica, this is my handler, Keith. Keith, this is my big sister Veronica. She’s a succubus.”

Veronica nodded and held her hand out to Keith. “Hello.” Keith tried to be polite and held his hand out to shake her hand. As soon as she got a firm grip she pulled him in close and breathed in his scent. “Well don’t you smell delicious.” Keith froze in shock, but she quickly let him go and turned her attention back to Lance. “Mama’s getting stuff sorted out right now. Should take a while. Everyone Marco’s in the basement. Luis, Lisa and her rugrats are out in the fields. Dad’s in hell and Rachel… she’s cleaning up the upstairs.”

“Neat.” Said Lance. “It’s been centuries since I’ve seen you guys.” He pulled Keith inside and happily sat on the couch, pulling Keith onto his lap. He noticed that Lance kept him in place with his tail.

Veronica noticed this too and raised an eyebrow, but otherwise did nothing. “Yeah, it has been a while. We ran out of stock so we’re starting a small chop shop here.”

“Ah, I see.”

Suddenly another demon came down the stairs. They looked extremely similar to Lance and grinned at them. “Lance!” She quickly went over to them, but was very interested in Keith. “Who’s the snack?”

Lance rolled his eyes and pulled Keith a little closer. “This is my handler. Keith. He is not for you. He is mine.” He nuzzled Keith. “Keith, this is my twin sister Rachel. She had to be the picky sex demon. She changes between succubus and incubus depending on how much seamen is inside her… Right now since she looks like a girl she has none in her.”

“Yep, but Keith could fill me up again.” She purred as she reached out to touch him. Before he could get close, Lance grabbed her wrist and violently jerked it, knocking her to the ground.

“Touch my Keith and I will break your arm.” He growled at her. “Same goes for you Veronica. Everyone for that matter.” Keith was shocked at how protective Lance was being with him, but he wasn’t complaining. From what Veronica had said there was a lot of sex demons here and Keith did not want to get cornered any any of them. For all he knew they all ate hearts like Lance.

“Wow, someone’s got a parasite up their ass today.” Grumbled Rachel.

A door in the back of the house slammed open and a tall demon carrying a bloodied cleaver walked out. He looked slightly annoyed. “What’s with all the noise? Oh, hey Lance. Good to see you again… Who is this?”

Lance smiled. “Hey Marco. This is Keith. My human handler. Keith, this is Marco, he’s an incubus like me. He doesn’t eat hearts though. He just drains his victims of their life energy.”

Over the next few hours Keith was introduced to the rest of the McClain family. His other brother Luis and his wife Lisa were both an incubus and a succubus respectively. They sucked the life out of people in their dreams. He also had a young niece and a nephew that were apparently too young to start feeding off people that way and just stuck to eating human flesh instead. Lance’s mama was a succubus and seemed quite happy to see Lance had brought him around. Though she was less pleased when Lance said that Keith was his alone and no one was to touch him.

“Come now Lance, you can’t just bring something that looks as tasty as that around and not share him.” Scolleded the older woman. “At least let the younger ones eat some of his fingers.”

“No.” Growled Lance darkly. “I came by to catch up with you all because it’s been too long since I’ve seen you all. Not because I wanted to throw Keith at you. He’s all mine.”

“Selfish.” Hissed Rachel.

Lance punched her arm. “Fuck off Rachel. If you fucking touch him I will kill you.”

Keith was scared, but he stuck close to Lance. He didn’t like this at all, but Lance wanted to be around his family so he wasn’t going to say anything. He’d just keep quiet and stay by Lance. It was safest this way. He didn’t trust anyone here besides Lance.

So that was how Keith found himself sitting at a rotted dinner table. Lance had pulled Keith as close as possible. Practically pulling him onto his lap. Keith quickly learned a few strange things about these demons. They seemed to be here doing some kind of job. What that job was? Well, Keith didn’t want to know. All he really picked up from it was that it involved humans and Macro enjoyed using a knife on them. No way Keith wanted to know what they were doing. He just hoped that whatever happened he wouldn’t end up on the sharp end of Marco’s knife.

He also had no idea what the food that the adult demons were eating. The two children were literally eating in human fingers while the demons were drinking some weird yellowish green liquid. Keith was just eating a muffin Lance had bought him at the last gas station they visited.

“We’ll probably be here for a few more days.” Said Lance’s mother. “Have to do these things quickly you know. The Blade of Mamora has been really pestering us a lot lately. They managed to clip your poor father’s wing a few decades ago.”

“Ah, so that’s why he isn’t here…” Said Lance. “Shame. I would have liked to introduce him to Keith. He would have really liked you.” 

Veronica chuckled. “Lance, dad loves humans. He would have taken one look at Keith and just ate him up on the front porch.”

Lance glared at her while his mother just laughed. “Ah, very true. He’s always had a taste for you, cute humans. He probably would have tried to fight you for him.”

Lance hissed a little and pulled Keith a little closer. “No. Keith is mine. If any of you try anything I will kill you.” He looked at his niece and nephew and smiled sweetly at them. “That includes you two too.”

“Well, are you going to stay the night?” Asked his mother. “You and your um… human pet…”

“Keith.”

“Keith, can stay here too.” She said. “There are some decent living arrangements for humans that should suit him.”

Lance rolled his eyes and looked up at Keith. He lovingly ran his fingers over Keith’s cheek. “What do you say? Want to stay here with my family for a few days?”

Honestly, Keith wanted to leave. He was scared by how they all looked at him and how Lance had to keep threatening them not to touch him. But Lance seemed happy and excited to see them again. He just smiled and nodded. “Y-yeah. Your family seems nice.” He said quietly.

Lance’s mum seemed very happy and clapped her hands. “Wonderful. It’ll be so nice to have you boys around for a few days… and Keith? Honey? Stay out of the basement.” She then pointed to the rest of her children. “And no luring him down there either. I’m looking at you Marco.”

“Just because I’m the one that uses the most psychological manipulation you all assume that I’m the one that’s going to do something to his mind?”

“YES!” Bellowed everyone at the table.

***

The bed they were given was lumpy and smelled kind of weird, but it was fine compared to some of the places that he and Lance slept. Thought tonight Lance had practically wrapped Keith in a cocoon of his wings and tail. He asked why Lance was doing and the demon just shrugged. 

“I love my family, but they all think you look delicious.” Said Lance. “I’m not sharing you and Luis and Lisa hunt sleeping humans. They might try and take advantage of you and take some of your fingers and toes for their kids.”

“...” Keith practically curled into a ball and had difficulty sleeping that night. It didn’t help that even on the second floor he could hear weird sounds coming from the basement. He really didn’t want to know what they were doing in there.

When the morning came Lance took Keith back out to the car and gave him some more food to eat. It wasn’t much, but it would be fine until they got to the next town. Keith very quietly ate food while Lance happily nuzzled his arm. Keith wanted to leave soon, but he would stick this out for Lance. Lance was happy, so he should be happy too, right? Lance had been taking care of him for all this time. He deserved to spend time with his family.

“W-what are we going to d-do today?” He asked quietly.

Lance shrugged. “Probably help mama in the basement.”

“I-I’m almost afraid to ask what’s in there…”

“...” Lance gently squeezed his hand. “Then don’t. You don’t want to know what is in there… The most I will tell you is that my family… They don’t see their handlers as individuals. Humans are just food to them and they um… Well, the phrase; sharing is caring. Is common among my kind. It isn’t uncommon for family groups to lure a small group of humans to a place and feed off them for a number of months…”

Keith gulped. “So in the basement is…?”

“Yes, humans… My family's human handlers…” Said Lance quietly. “You don’t want to see them… They are probably close to dying now…” 

“... O-okay… I’ll stay out of the basement.” He was never going to go down to the basement.

“Uncle Lance!” Called Lance’s niece as she ran up to him. He smiled and picked up the girl. She grinned at him, showing off her abnormally sharp teeth. Perfectly sharp and ready to shred the meat off of bones.

“What’s up Nadia?”

“Wanna come and play with us? We haven’t played with a human before!”

“Keith isn’t my pet.” Corrected Lance. “He is my handler and I love him.”

She tilted her head in mild confusion. “But he’s a human. You can’t love a human.”

“I beg to differ.”

Veronica walked out of the house and walked over to them. “Trying to get Lance to play with you huh?”

“Yep!”

She smiled a little and looked at Lance. “Keith isn’t my type. If you want to play with them you can. I’ll keep them away from him.”

“Really?” He glanced over at Keith before he looked down at Nadian and smiled. “Okay. We’ll be back soon Keith. Love you.” He quickly kissed him and ran off to where his niece wanted to go.

Veronica stared at Keith and smirked. Her eyes were curious but overall uncaring. “So, you’ve really taken my little brother huh?”

“... Not intentionally.” He said quietly.

“... You don’t want to be here, do you? You don’t want to be around his family.” She accused. “You want to leave. Run away. Never see us again. Right?”

While it was true Keith didn’t want to be there he didn’t have the will to run away. “I don’t have any family I can run to.” He said quietly. He closed his eyes and sighed sadly. “If you guys are going to kill me can you at least do it quickly? Or at least let Lance do it?”

“You want Lance to kill you?”

“I belong to him don’t I?” Asked Keith. “He should decide if he still wants me alive or not.”

Veronica was stunned for a moment before she patted him on the back and laughed. “Lance picked a good one this time. He must really like you huh?”

“I um… I guess?” Said Keith quietly. “I-I try to look after him when I can… A-and he looks after me…”

“Well that’s good.” Said Veronica. She continued to stare at him and it unnerved Keith a lot. She gently put her hands on his face and stared into his eyes. “... Look, I’m going to be very honest with you. Lance isn’t a very good Incubus. He gets attached to humans very quickly. He doesn’t understand he needs to use you and throw you away as soon as possible. As such, you need to understand that Lance is an outlier. My family and I do not believe or understand his feelings towards humans.”

“So am I in danger?”

“To a degree.” She said calmly. “Keep away from Marco. I likes to torture his food before he eats it. Lisa and Luis won’t bother you while you’re awake and their kids don’t hunt yet either. Mama will generally leave you alone if you follow her rules. She likes keeping Lance happy because Lance is the youngest, even though he is Rachel’s twin…”

Shr frowned a little when she mentioned the younger sister. That worried Keith a lot. “What’s wrong with Rachel?”

“... Her being Lance’s twin has the mentality of what’s Lance’s is hers.” She warned. “Rachel’s pissed off that Lance isn’t sharing you. You need to be really careful. She might not have the same mental powers as Marco, but she is manipulative. She knows how to get what she wants.”

“... Okay. Thank you.”

“This isn’t for your benefit.” Said Veronica. “This is for Lance… Come with me. I want to show you something.”

Keith was reluctant but he followed the older woman to the barn. There was no roof and some of the side wall had fallen in. There was a strong smell of rot and decay coming from it. It made Keith’s skin crawl. He was pretty sure he knew what might be in there and he could feel his legs trembling. He didn’t want to go there. He didn’t.

She just rolled her eyes and stood by the hole in the side of the barn. “I want to level with you. You’re an interesting man, but you’re a human. Just a human, and Lance is an Incubus. If you still want to stay alive you need to keep Lance happy. If not, you’ll end up here.” She gestured for Keith to look inside the barn.

Keith gulped and looked into the barn. There was a pit. A hole. He didn’t want to look into it, but he did anyway. It was filled with limbs in various stages of decomposition. But that was it. They were just limbs. No torsos, heads or chests. Just limbs. It made him shiver and made him feel scared.

“If you don’t keep him happy then parts of you might end up in a pit like this.” Warned Veronica.

“... W-where is the rest of them?” He asked quietly, though he dreaded the answer.

“In the basement.” Said Veronica calmly. “We can keep our food source alive for centuries past their natural life span. They don’t need their arms and legs to be useful to us and honestly? Neither do you. You’re expendable. Know your place among demons.”

***

Later that night after another awkward family dinner the two of them escaped back to their room for the night. Lance happily held and nuzzled Keith. Gently praising him about how well he’s getting along with his family. How everyone likes him, and how happy he was that everyone was leaving him alone.

“When we leave we’ll go and get you something really yummy to eat.” Said Lance. “Something like… Chicken? You like things with chicken, right? Chicken noodles? Chicken burger? Cake? You can have whatever you want.”

“... Thank you.”

Lance smiled and kissed him. Keith kissed back. “I love you Keith.” Said Lance quietly. “I love you so much. You’re so handsome and kind. I appreciate you getting along with my family.”

Keith just smiled at Lance and continued to let the man praise him. He liked being praised by Lance and being told he was good. He liked being good for Lance. If he was good for him then good things would happen. He closed his eyes and happily let Lance continue to nuzzle and kiss him.

The next day Keith did feel a little better about being around the demon family and felt confident enough that he wasn’t going to get attacked when he went out to the car to grab some food for himself. When he was outside, he sat on the bonnet of the car facing the barn. The barn was… He didn’t want to go there again, but he had a sick and twisted feeling in his guts. He felt weird.

He didn’t want to go back there, but he did. He wanted to go back there and see the body parts again. Keith didn’t know why but he just did. He got up and slowly walked over to the barn. It still smelled like rot and decay.

He got to the barn and looked into the hole. Yep. Still a bunch or rotted arms and legs. He couldn’t help but nervously shift from foot to foot as he looked around for a shovel. He needed to bury it. The smell was too strong. People will find it. They would get in trouble. He found a shovel tossed on the floor. He picked it up and started to refill the hole. He was a good boy. He was good. He’d do everything he needed to do to make sure that no one found them.

Once the hole was filled in, Keith dusted his hands off and left the barn. It was then that Lance pounced on him and he was where he was now. With Lance standing over him, striking him with his tail, and telling him to strip.

***

Keith was shaking as he took off his jacket and shirt for him. “L-Lance…” He said in a shaky voice. “I-I’m s-s-s-sorry…”

Lance rolled his eyes and took off his own shirt. “Don’t be sorry. Get naked already. You want me to hit you again?”

Keith shook his head as tears started to well up in his eyes. He didn’t understand why Lance was hurting him. He hadn’t hurt him like this before. All he knew was that he didn’t want Lance to start hurting him like this now. He quickly started to work on taking off his pants when he noticed the lack of scar on Lance’s chest. Lance had a prominent scar on his chest from when he cut himself open to exchange hearts with Keith. They didn’t.

“... Y-You’re not Lance…”

“Close enough though right?” They purred.

“... LANCE!!!” Screamed Keith, but the other quickly jumped on him, clamped their hand over his mouth and growled at him. 

“Shut up.” They hissed. “Just shut the fuck up and take it you little shit. I-”

They were violently yanked off of Keith and thrown to the ground by Lance. The actual Lance. They had venom in their eyes as they viciously climbed onto the other demon and started to rip into them, shredding lots of their skin from their wings. Both were shrieking and making sounds like two feral cats fighting in the street.

“Rachel!” Snapped Lance. “You shapeshifting whore! I told you to stay the fuck away from Keith! He is mine! MINE! MINE!”

Eventually Rachel managed to pull herself free from her brother. Her wings were in ruins, her body was covered in deep claw marks and a few large chunks were missing from her tail. “FUCK YOU!” She yelled at him. “SELFISH PRICK!”

“KILL YOURSELF!” Hissed Lance. He took a few moments to calm himself down before he walked over to Keith and quickly helped him get his shirt back on. “Are you okay? She didn’t hurt you, did she? I am so sorry… Are these bruises?”

He tried to touch him, but Keith pushed him away. “N-no!” He whimpered. “Don’t! I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m-”

“It’s okay.” Said Lance calmly. “You didn’t do anything wrong. My sister is just a bitch. You were good. You did a very good job. Are you okay? What did she do to you?”

Keith sniffled a little. “I-I… She looked and sounded just like you… Sh-she licked my neck and s-said I should scream for her… I… I really thought she was you, but she doesn’t have a scar on her chest like you do so I knew it wasn’t you… B-but she kept hitting me…”

Lance looked angry, but not at him. He held Keith close and picked him up. “We’re going. I won’t let my family treat you like one of their handlers.”

Keith sniffled and buried his head into Lance’s shoulder. He was scared and just wanted to leave. He wanted to be somewhere safe, far away from Lance’s family. He felt safe in Lance’s arms. It was the only place he felt safe anymore. They got to the car and Lance out Keith in the backseat. Some of Lance’s family came out of the house to see what all the screaming was about.

Lance growled a little. “Stay in the car.” He shut the door and Keith anxiously watched and waited for Lance to come back in so they could leave.

***

His mama looked rather annoyed at him. “Now what is all this about you attacking Rachel? Her wings are in tatters.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “I told her not to touch Keith. Keith is mine. She tried to fuck him! Mama! She tried to fuck him!”

“Wow, almost like she’s a succubus!” Snapped the older woman. “What were you thinking? If you’re going to be a selfish brat like that then maybe we should just take him down to the basement with the others?”

“Don’t you fucking dare you heartless whore…” Growled Lance darkly. 

“Lance Asmodeus McClain! You did not just call me heartless!” She snapped. “I am your mother! I know what is best for you! I know you’re not all there in the head and I’ve let you do your own thing by running around and playing with humans, but no! You need to show us some respect! You are-”

“He’s my soulmate mama!” Yelled Lance. That admission seemed to shut her up. “Keith is my soulmate. I’m never sharing him with anyone. Not Rachel, not you, not anyone… Until you all respect that I’m leaving. I don’t care if I happen to pick up a hell signal on the radio again. I’m never seeing any of you again.”

His mother looked between her son and Keith. “... He is your soulmate?”

“Yes.”

She sighed and shook her head. “You should have said that earlier than just saying he’s your handler. You know how seriously we take these things…” He gave him a quick hug. “Now you two drive safely. There is word that the Blade of Marmora is heading in this direction. Keep your head down. The both of you.”

“Thanks. We will.”

“Good… Now if you excuse me I have to go and yell at your sister about trying to eat someone’s soulmate.”

“Okay. Bye mama.” He quickly got back into the car and started to drive away. Keith was very quiet from his spot in the backseat. He still looked very shaken up about everything. “... You know I won’t let anyone touch you like that, right?” He asked the other. “I will always protect you. Human or demon I won’t let them have you.”

“I-I know…” Said Keith quietly. “I… I wasn’t trying to run away from you… I-I could never run away from you.”

“I know love. I know you’ll never leave me and I’ll never leave you… And why won’t I leave you?”

“Because you love me?”

“Yes and you love me too, right?”

“Yeah. I love you too.”


	6. Coast

Demons. Hearts. Hearts of demons. Hearts of humans? Sacrifices. Human sacrifices. The thing about most demons is that apart from tormenting humans, they enjoy the taste of human blood. Was it tasty to them? Did they just enjoy the metallic taste of blood?

Why did demons care so much about hearts? One of the few organs that was just pure muscle and blood. So much blood. They say that humans are the greedy and sinful ones, but they were the ones that yearned for human blood. To drink it. Taste it. Touch it. Bathe in it. They converted it. Obsessed over it. Oceans of it existed in their world and was free for all, but it was hoarded like there was none left.

Demons always wanted more. More. More. More. They wanted hearts. Human hearts. They needed them so badly and it disgusted Shiro. Keith was suffering at the hands of that Incubus. Lance. Lance that monster.

Lance, like most manners and methods of death, was alluring and beautiful. He could only imagine the horrors Lance was putting him through. Though Shiro had a good idea of the pain and torture that Lance was inflicting on Keith right now.

He ground his teeth in frustration and slammed his fist on his desk. After he had come so close before he couldn’t just accept that he had no leads anymore. He couldn’t just vanish like that without a trace, there had to be something. Anything. He needed to find Keith. Now.

“You need to rest.” Said Kolivan calmly from the doorway. 

Shiro had been held up in the Blade of Marmora’s headquarters for weeks after Lance had taken Keith away from him. He knew Keith was still in there. That small, sweet, lovable little boy was still in there and he needed help. He was scared and needed help. Shiro would be that help. He’d be the one so save that small, scared little boy.

“I need to find him Kolivan.” Said Shiro calmly. “I was so close… I was this close to saving him… But that Incubus… He has his claws sunk deep into him…”

“I understand.” Said Kolivan as he walked into the room. “That particular Incubus has been very slippery. He pops up every few generations and always comes and causes trouble for us.” Kolivan had been the head of the Blade of Marmora and was the one that approached Shiro when he started to dig a little too deep into who Lance was.

“... I need to find him Kolivan.” Said Shiro quietly. He’s my brother… I… I should have found him sooner. Who knows what he’s doing to him? He could be doing anything to him and I… He’s suffering…”

“I know.” Kolivan walked over to him and closed the book he was reading. “Look, I know your feelings on this matter, you don’t care what happens to the Incubus as long as Keith is safe, but we want the Incubus… We let you try it your way. Consider letting us try our way. It will be more-”

“No.” Said Shiro sternly. “If you lot get your way you’ll put Keith in danger to get the Incubus to come to him. I won’t do that…”

Kolivan rolled his eyes and took a piece of paper out of his pocket. “Read this, sleep, and consider it. This is a trap we have constructed. Yes, Keith will be in some danger, but he will not be severely injured. The only way he could get hurt is if he hurts himself.”

Shiro frowned and looked over the plan. “... Kolivan, this is-”

“Don’t say no yet.” Said Kolivan quickly. “Just think about it. We can’t even do anything until we find Keith again.”

“... Okay.”

“Good. We’ll let you know if we find him. You are very important to the plan.” He left the room.

Shiro shook his head and looked down at the plan again. He didn’t like it. Too much could go wrong. If it worked then Lance would be taken out permanently and Keith would be free. Keith could finally be free from that demon. He gripped the paper tight enough for it to rip slightly.

“... I’ll save you Keith. I’ll do anything for you…” If he had to he would go along with this plan, but he didn’t want to. It could traumatise Keith more. He had suffered enough. He was probably suffering some unspeakable horror right now at the hands of that Incubus.

***

Keith jumped a little in surprise when Lance lightly booped him on the nose with a soft serve ice cream. They giggled and handed it over to him. After the disaster that was Lance’s family, Lance decided it would be best to head to the coast for a while. So for the past few days the two of them had been sleeping in their car by the beach. They were currently at a lighthouse enjoying the quiet. 

“Here you go, love.” Said Lance in an almost overly cheerful tone. “Strawberry ice cream. Your favourite. It even has bits of cut up strawberry in it.”

“Thank you.” Keith moved a little closer to Lance as he looked over the side of the small cliff where the lighthouse was built. There were dozens of jagged rocks that were constantly getting hammered with heavy waves.

Lance laced his fingers with Keith’s free hand and leaned against his arm. The closeness of it all was making Keith’s heart race. Ever since meeting with Lance’s family the Incubus had never been too far out of Keith’s line of sight. Which he found a small amount of comfort in.

Though Keith hated it. He felt like he was a burden to Lance now. It had been years before he started to be useful to Lance. He could get rid of the leftovers when Lance was done getting his fill. He was a good boy for him. But now… Now he was afraid that Lance could end up being another demon in disguise, or he could think he’s not useful anymore. If that happened then would Lance take him somewhere like the basement? Where his family took their human handlers.

“The view is really lovely from up here.” Said Lance. He pointed out to the horizon. “I think that’s a storm on the horizon.”

Keith nodded in agreement. “Yeah… Where are we going after this?”

Lance shrugged. “I was thinking maybe heading up North? You like the forests, yes?”

“Forests are nice.” Said Keith quietly.

Lance hummed a little and leaned his head against Keith’s shoulder. “Yeah. It’s very pretty when it snows… Maybe we could go really far North? Like Canada? My family prefers it warm so we definitely won’t see them if we’re up there.”

“Okay.”

“But we will need to get you some better winter clothes. We have a lot of money right now so we can go to an actual sporting goods store and get like a ski jacket for you.” Said Lance. “Something really nice and warm.” 

Keith nodded and continued to eat his ice cream. It was about time he got a new jacket. “... Can we stay somewhere nice? Like, somewhere that doesn’t smell all musty and the mattress isn’t all lumpy?”

“Of course.” Said Lance. “We’ll find a nice place to stay for a few weeks.” He kissed Keith’s cheek and gently rubbed his back. “... Do you like the beach? You seemed to like the rockpool before.”

Keith nodded again. “Yeah. haven’t seen a hermit crab before.”

“Well now you have.”

He smiled a little. “It had one really big claw and a tiny one.”

“It sure did.” Said Lance. “It snipped at you too.”

“I did poke it with a stick…”

Lance laughed and grinned. “Yep. You probably shouldn’t poke crabs with sticks.”

“Yeah…”

Lance kissed his cheek and smiled at him. “Just don’t do it again love. Crabs are cute, but you shouldn’t be mean to cute things.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah.” Lance hummed and happily squeezed his hand. “You’re cute too you know?”

“Oh?”

“Yep.” He kissed Keith’s cheek. “Now, I have to go to the bathroom. Will you be okay or do you need to come with me?”

“... I um… I-I’ll be fine… Just please don’t take too long… Please…”

Lance nodded and quickly headed to where the bathroom block was. Keith kept his eyes on him until he vanished inside the building. Keith sighed heavily and looked down at the ocean waves again. The white seafoam looked rather soft and frothy against the rocks. If he fell from here he would definitely die on impact or at least get knocked out and drown.

He kind of wanted to do it too. He could too. Lance might take a while and there was no one else around. He could climb over the edge and fall. But he was scared. He wasn’t too sure what he was scared of anymore. Was he scared of Lance? Was he scared of dying? What would happen to Lance if he killed himself? Would he cry? Would he mourn him? Would be be like the rest of his family and just not care. If Lance pushed him aside so easily then what worth did he have?

He sniffled a little and rubbed his eyes. He wasn’t anything more than a plaything for Lance. The older he got the more likely it would be that Lance would leave him too, right? He’d get old, and Lance would abandon him to find someone else he found more attractive. He’d either be abandoned or take him back to his family to put him in the basement with everyone else.

 _“Little wolf? Little wolf?”_ Called a voice. Keith looked over the edge to see a seagull corpse on the very edge of the cliff just a few inches away from the edge of the cliff. _“Is it time?”_ They asked. _“Are you going to put yourself to rest now?”_

“I…”

 _“We’ll welcome you if you do.”_ They said. _“We will hold you gently and bring you peacefully into your long sleep.”_

“I um…”

 _“We don’t judge you. We will never judge you for doing the things you did in life.”_ They said. _“You’re tired aren’t you? It’s easy. You just have to climb over the fence and lean forward. Just… Lean… Forward…”_

“But Lance… He… He might…”

_“Miss you? Do you think he will miss you? How many humans has he been with before you? How many of them does he really miss?”_

“...”

 _“You’re just the latest in a long line of wolves that the hunter has ensnared.”_ Said the seagull. _“You are not the first and you will not be the last. You are no one to him. Not really. And if you’re nothing to him then what value do you have if you are alive?”_

“I-I help Lance… Kind of...”

_“A job you cannot do your whole life. But all are useful once they die. The bodies of the living are always used by everything else. It’s nourishment. When you’re dead you’re always useful. Much more useful than when you live. So come on. It’ll be fine. Almost painless. Almost easy.”_

Keith hated how everyone seemed to know this, and he hated how true it was. He was just convenient for Lance. That’s all Keith was. Convenient. He climbed over the edge of the fence and sat on the edge of it. All he had to do was stand up and lean forward and then that would be it. He’d be done. That would be the end of it.

_“Just a little further. You can do it.”_

He was about to stand up when he felt two warm arms wrap around his stomach. It shocked Keith and he dropped his ice cream. He watched it fall and splatter against a rock. “... My ice cream…”

Lance hummed a little and kissed the back of his neck. “What are you doing Keith?”

“... Trying to get a better view?”

“There’s a bench a little further along if you want to sit and watch the ocean.”

“Oh… Didn’t see that.” He swung his legs around to the safe side and stood back next to Lance. He let the Incubus hold his hand and lead him over to the bench where the two of them sat down and watched the ocean some more.

Lance cuddled his arm and sighed contently. “Do you like the ocean? I think it’s pretty.”

“Yeah. It’s nice.”

“Very romantic.”

“If you say so.”

Lance hummed and kissed his cheek. “I think it’s very romantic. In fact…” They got up and kneeled in front of Keith, smiling brightly at him. “Keith, I know our relationship is a little weird and very unorthodox by human standards, but I love you. I love you so much… Remember when I went out a few months ago? When we were in that town? The one with that weird horse statue?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, when I was out I went to the pawn shop and bought something there. So Keith…” Lance took a black box out of his pocket and opened it. Inside it was a simple rose gold wedding band with a red stone set in it. “Keith, will you marry me?”

Keith stared at the ring in shock. He did not expect this. “You…”

“Sure the ring probably doesn’t fit since it’s from a pawn shop, but we can get it resized at a jewlers when we go by one.” Said Lance happily. “And yeah, we can’t really get married like real humans would since there’s so much paperwork and all. It’ll be more symbolic than anything, but I really want us to be together.”

Keith continued to stare down at the ring in shock. “...Why? I’m just a-”

“You’re my soulmate.” Said Lance. “You’re beautiful and perfect. You’re everything I want. I want to stay by your side forever. I’ll never leave you. I promise. I’ll stay with you forever. I love you so much.”

“I… I do.” He said quietly. “I’ll marry you.”

Lance grinned and hugged him tightly. “I love you! I love you so much!” He kissed Keith and he kissed back. When they pulled back Lance happily took the ring out of the box and attempted to put it on Keith’s finger, but it was too small. “... Backup plan.” Lance took a small silver chain out of his pocket, threaded it through the ring and happily strung it around his neck. “You look so handsome.”

Keith blushed and instantly felt guilty about trying to kill himself minutes before. “Thank you… You need a ring too.”

Lance grinned and showed Keith his own necklace with a rose gold ring on it. His ring had a blue stone in it. “I’ve been wearing it since I found them. I’ve been waiting for the right time to give you yours. Now we can get them resized together when we get to the next town.”

Keith smiled a little and touched the ring on his necklace. He was… Happy? Maybe? This meant that Lance loved him, right? People that loved each other got married, right? Lance moved him. Lance was in love with him. They were in love. That’s all that mattered. They were in love, right?


	7. Honeymoon

“And here are your rings.” The woman at the jewelry store handed over their wedding bands. 

Lance was giddy with excitement as he took it and happily put Keith’s ring on his finger. Keith did the same for him. He quickly kissed Keith on the cheek before looking back at the woman. “Thank you very much. Have a good day.”

“You too.”

Lance laced his fingers with Keith’s and happily walked out of the shop. He was excited. As far as he was concerned they were married. They should celebrate. They were in a rather quante and nice looking town. They could probably have dinner at the nice bed and breakfast they were staying at. Keith had wanted to sleep in a nice bed, so they were going to sleep in a nice bed.

He grinned at Keith and kissed him again. “Now we’re married. Well, as officially married as we can get.”

Keith nodded and smiled at him. “Y-yeah. I guess we are. I-I didn’t think that I’d ever get married…”

Lance chuckled and kissed him again. He just wanted to keep kissing him all day. “Well I love you. I love you so much. I’ll always love you. Keith, you already have my heart. This is almost the natural next step. Yeah?”

“Y-yeah.”

He smiled and ran his fingers through Keith’s hair. “Let’s head back to our room. We should probably consummate our marriage, yeah?”

Keith seemed a little surprised but nodded and followed Lance back to the bed and breakfast they were staying at. The place did kind of feel like a doll house but he felt that it fit Keith perfectly. He wasn’t sure why. It just did.

When they got to their room Keith kicked off his shoes and sat on the bed. He was looking down at his hand at the ring. Lance was very pleased that Keith liked the ring. Since he had given it to him, Keith had seemed less anxious and Lance was able to spend more time away from him. Keith was even able to go for little walks on his own. It was nice that things were going back to normal.

Lance sat behind him, loosely wrapped his arms around Keith’s back and kissed his neck. Keith was so wonderful. So pretty. So kind. So wonderful. He loved him. He loved him so much. He had been joking around a little when he had been talking about consummating their marriage, but he wouldn’t mind if Keith wanted him too. They had really only had sex when Lance was starving and needed something to sustain him until he was able to find a better source of food. If they had sex now it would be the first time they would do it without Lance needing it.

Keith put his hands on Lance’s and rubbed his thumb over his own wedding band. He seemed to relax a little and that made Lance smile. Keith was finding comfort in it. In him. Keith loved him and wanted to be with him. He was sure that Keith would have been too terrified to even consider such a thing after the disaster that was Lance’s family.

“I love you.” Said Keith quietly. “D-does this mean you won’t leave me? E-ever?”

“I’ll never leave you.” Said Lance. “We’re married now. You’re my husband and I’m your husband… I know this is a little backwards but we could say some vows to each other? We can take the rings off and put them back on again?”

“I guess… But I don’t really know any vows.”

Lance shrugged. “Well, vows are special promises that you make to the person you marry. Promises that you are going to keep for the whole time you are married. Stuff like, you’ll stay with them when they are sick or hurt. You won’t abandon them and love them forever. That kind of stuff.”

Keith nodded as he thought about this. “I-I want to say vows… Can we say vows to each other?”

Lance smiled and moved so he was sitting next to him. “Of course. Do you want to go first or will I?”

“C-can you go first?” Asked Keith quietly. “I-I don’t really know what to say…”

Lance kissed his cheek and held his hands. “Of course.” He cleared his throat. “Keith Kogane. I love you. I love you so much it’s almost painful. I’ve seen you grow into a wonderful young man. You’ve been so good to me… Keith, my beloved, I promise you that as long as I am alive I will protect you. I will keep you safe. I will never let anything bad happen to you, and if something bad happens I will do everything I can to keep you safe and heal you again. No matter what happens I will be there for you. I’ll love you forever. You’re my soulmate.”

Keith was bright red by the end of Lance’s speech. It was cute. It made Lance’s heart flutter with excitement. He was so cute. Lance just wanted to push Keith down onto the mattress and screw him silly. Just to make him feel good. Not because he wanted to eat. It was such an odd feeling. Considering he was an Incubus if that wasn’t love, then what was it?

Keith nervously cleared his throat, copying Lance. “Lance, I’ve known you pretty much my whole life… You’ve saved my life many times, taken care of me, and loved me more than a-any human ever has… N-no one has ever wanted me like you have a-and I love you.” He said quietly. “I-I’m going to look after you. I’ll keep you safe. Like you have done for me. I’ll always make sure you’re well fed so you don’t go hungry anymore. I l-love you… You’re my… You’re my soulmate too…”

Hearing him say that Lance grin from ear to ear. Keith had never called him his soulmate before, so this was a big deal for Lance. “That was beautiful.” Said Lance quietly.

“R-really?” Asked Keith. He seemed unsure of himself. “I wasn’t sure if it…”

“It was perfect.” Reassured Lance. “Everything you said was so… I thought I was going to cry from happiness.”

“R-really?”

Lance nodded and wrapped his arms around Keith, pulling him into a passionate kiss. “You’ve made me the happiest I have ever been in my whole life. I love you so much. Let me show you how much I love you.”

Keith seemed a little apprehensive. Neither of them had gone and had sex since what happened with Lance’s family. Lance didn’t want to press it or make Keith uncomfortable, but Keith did say he would make sure he’s always well fed. He’d much prefer it if Keith would do this willingly and not because of a promise he had made minutes earlier that he was already breaking.

“... O-okay.” Keith nervously sat back and started to undress, though he was very hesitant when it came to taking off his underwear or shirt.

Lance smiled softly at him and kissed him. “We will take things slowly. Go at your pace. If you feel better sitting around like this for a while I’m good. You looked beautiful.”

Keith blushed more and nodded. “S-so do you.”

He chuckled a little and stripped down to nothing. Keith was used to seeing him without clothes. Lance personally preferred to be naked since he didn’t have to hide his wings or his tail. He cuddled up to Keith and started to kiss any bare skin he could. He loved him. He wanted him. He wanted to feel Keith’s skin against his own.

He suddenly felt a warm hand on his chest. Lance looked down at Keith’s hand and then back up at him in confusion. Keith wasn’t looking at him. He was looking at his scar. His husband ran his fingers over the faded pink line. He wondered if it gave him some comfort? It was the thing that gave him reassurance and comfort that he really was Lance and not someone trying to trick him.

“Yes love?” Asked Lance quietly. “What do you need?”

“I…” He mumbled something softly. 

Lance didn’t quite hear him. “Keith? Can you say that a little louder? I didn’t quite catch that.”

“... I want to… I want to keep going… C-consummate our marriage…” 

Lance grinned and kissed him again, gently pushing him back onto the mattress. “Don’t worry Keith. We will. Just let me know if I’m going too fast for you or if you need me to slow down. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

***

Keith felt weird. He was happy, but he felt kind of sick? He also wasn’t as tired as he normally was after having sex with Lance. Lance had mentioned offhand once that he drained his food of their physical energy as well so they wouldn’t run away when he went for their hearts. Maybe how tired he felt after was dependent on how hungry Lance was? Either way Keith wasn’t that tired as he laid in bed with his husband.

It was such a strange thing to think about. Lance was now his husband. Keith was his husband. They were married. He looked at the ring on his finger and smiled a little. Lance loved him. He loved him a lot. 

Keith wanted to do something for him. Something special. The sun was still up so maybe there was still some time to go to the jewelry store and get something pretty for Lance? Lance liked pretty things. Maybe he would appreciate it?

He very carefully got out of bed, cleaned himself up, got dressed, and took some money. He’d be quick. Just go down and come back. It would be okay. Lance would still be there. He loved him.

They were in a very quiet town around a lot of trees. It was nice. Keith kind of prefered this place to the coast. Though the coast was very nice, he prefered trees. It was easier for them to hide when there were trees around.

Keith got to the jewelers and bought Lance a simple, pretty silver bracelet. It was shiny and pretty. He hoped that Lance would appreciate it. His stomach growled a little. Maybe it was time to think about dinner? There was a little dining room at the bed and breakfast they were staying in. Maybe they could go down and eat there? He’d like that. It would be a nice way to spend their honeymoon.

Keith blushed as he walked down the street. This really was their honeymoon, wasn’t it? They were on their honeymoon. He was on his honeymoon with his husband and things were okay.

Suddenly a cloth was pressed against Keith’s mouth and he instantly became dizzy. Keith didn’t know what was happening but it happened so quickly he didn’t have time to panic. He just passed out in the arms of someone that grabbed him.

***

When Keith came to it was dark and he was in the middle of the woods. He was in some clearing, in the middle of the woods, tied to a pole, surrounded by wood. Kind of looked like a campfire… If fact, it probably was. He was tied to a stake. 

“... Shit.” Keith started to struggle and tried to get out of his binds. But he couldn’t. He could feel the ropes he was tied with biting into his skin. He was scared. He saw a flash of light and there was a wall of fire in front of him. In the dark he didn’t see the second semicircle of fire around him and he was terrified. If the wind changed then the fire would definitely hit his wood pile and burn him alive.

He fought harder to try and escape, but he couldn’t. He was scared. His eyes were starting to water when smoke started to sting his eyes. It made him want to vomit. Was he going to die? What was happening? Why was this happening? Was this a trap? But if it was a trap, it wouldn’t be for him would it? It would be for Lance… The demon that always came to him when he was in danger...

There was suddenly a strong gust of wind, causing most of the fire to die out and Lance was next to him. “What the hell happened?” Asked Lance as he started to pull on the ropes. 

“Y-you have to run!” Snapped Keith. 

This made Lance freeze for a moment. “What?”

“This is obviously a trap.” Said Keith. “A trap for you! You have to-!”

Lance winced in pain and doubled over. A large arrow was sticking out of his abdomen. The skin around the wound was quickly becoming necrotic and dissolving. Lance groaned in pain and pulled it out. “S-silver tipped… Yeah, this is a trap for-”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence before five more arrows shot out from the dark and struck Lance in the torso, abdomen, and one right in his eye. He fell back in a lifeless heap. His face staring lifelessly up at the stars.

After that, Keith’s heart wouldn’t stop racing. All he could hear was a horrible ringing in his ears as he tried not to panic, but it was impossible. He started screaming. He hardly noticed the people coming out of the trees and putting out the fire.

Someone cut him down from the pole and Keith quickly ran to Lance’s side. He was very much dead and unmoving. This just caused Keith’s anxiety to skyrocket as he desperately grabbed Lance’s hand, silently pleading for him to just get up. He didn’t know what he was saying. He was probably babbling nonsense, but he didn’t care. Lance said he would stay with him, but he didn’t. He was dead. He died trying to save him. Lance was dead and it was all his fault. 

People started to pull Keith away from Lance and Keith fought back. He kicked, punched, scratched and bit anything he could get his hands on. There was no way he was going to these strangers take him away from Lance. He and Lance were meant to be together, right? They just got married. They were meant to be together.

Someone managed to grab a hold of him and press another cloth against his face. “It’ll be okay Keith…” Whispered Shiro quietly. “It’ll be okay. Just relax. Everything will be fine.” That was the last thing Keith heard before he completely slipped into darkness.

***

It had been three days since the Incubus had been caught and Keith had been saved. However, Keith had become completely unresponsive. He’d still blink but apart from that he was practically a vegetable. Kolivan said that Keith was in a catatonic state, most likely caused by living with a demon for so long and then having that connection severed. Apparently being catatonic wasn’t unusual for someone like Keith.

Shiro had hoped that once Keith was freed from that monster that he would be normal. That they would be able to at least talk so he could help Keith get his life back together. However that didn’t look like that was going to happen any time soon.

They were safely back at the Marmora’s base because Kolivan wanted to talk to Keith to figure out more about the Incubus and how they could be more effective at exterminating their kind in the future. Something Keith wasn’t going to be able to do for a very long time.

Shiro had Keith propped up in a chair by the window. The view was nice. He hoped that Keith was happy now. He was safe and far away from that monster. They wouldn’t hurt and abuse him anymore. It was hard to tell what Keith was thinking, if he was thinking. His eyes were completely emotionless.

Shrio sat next to him and gently held his hand. “I’m sorry Keith.” He said quietly. “But you’re safe now. You’re going to be okay… W-when you’re better I can take you home… We can go home and I can help you get better. I have so much to tell you… I never gave up on you. I never did. I was always looking for you… You didn’t kill me when he told you to before because you wanted me to help you. I know it…” 

He looked up at the clock and sighed. It was about time to put Keith in bed. He picked up the younger man and carried him a few feet over to his bed. He tucked him in and brushed some hair out of his face. He hoped that Keith would be okay soon.

As he carefully tucked Keith in and looked down at his hands. He’d noticed it since Keith came in. He had a ring on his finger and Shiro wasn’t too sure what to make of it. Kolivan said it didn’t have any magical properties so there was no need to remove it. Shiro had an uneasy feeling about it, but he left it. If it was important to Keith he didn’t want to lose it.

“... It will be okay Keith. You’re safe now.” Shrio walked to the door and turned off the light. “Goodnight Keith… I love you.”


	8. Conduit

Shiro was really worried about Keith. It had been a week and Keith was still catatonic. Just blinked and made no effort to communicate. On the fourth day Kolivan got someone in their group trained in the medical field to put in a feeding tube for him so he wouldn’t starve to death.

Every day Shiro would stay with him and talk to him. He hoped that he would say something and it would spark some kind of memory for him and snap him out of it. But there was nothing. Kolivan was able to figure out where they were staying and brought Shiro a bag of what looked like Keith’s stuff.

He gave Keith the small hippo toy, but he didn’t even acknowledge that it was in his lap. It was heartbreaking. Lance had completely broken him. The younger brother that Shiro had tried so hard to save was still just beyond his grasp. It was depressing.

On the eighth day Shiro managed to find Keith a wheelchair and used it to move Keith around to see if he just needed a change of scenery to snap him out of it. Nothing really happened. Keith just blinked a little more when he was outside. He loved Keith with all his heart. He was his brother and he’d spent most of his life trying to get him back. He’d sacrificed so much. He knew that Keith would be damaged, but he hoped that Keith would have been able to talk to him.

Eventually Shiro decided to walk back to Keith’s room. On the way back he happened to bump into Kolivan. “Is he doing any better?” He asked.

“What do you think?” Asked Shiro through gritted teeth. “Look at what that fucking monster did to him. Look at him. I don’t even know if he can hear me talking. I just want him back…”

“Yes, well, I have been thinking about that…” Said Kolivan. “I want to use some more… Supernatural methods to see if the Incubus did something to him.”

“What?”

“Every other one of his handlers were either murdered or commited suicide after he left them. Maybe he performed some ritual on him and since we severed the bond with them the ritual went strange?” Suggested Kolivan.

“I see…” Muttered Shiro. He looked down at Keith and sighed. He wanted Shiro back and if he did something to his brother he wanted it undone. He still wasn’t sure if the demon actually swapped hearts with Keith or not. It could have just been to scare him and keep Keith close to him. “... If you think it will work… I just want Keith back.”

Kolivan nodded and the two of them went back to Keith’s room. Shiro put him on the bed and stood back while Kolivan did his thing. He still didn’t really know what was going on, but he let Kolivan do what he needed to. Most of it was drawing symbols on the headboard above Keith’s head. He got another member of their organization, a giant of a man named Antok, to come in and help as well.

Shiro had no idea what they were doing but they were doing a lot of chanting. The symbols above Keith’s head started glowing a dark red. After a few minutes Keith’s body violently shook and he sat up, hunched over and heaving.

“Keith!” Shiro tried to get to him but Antok held him back.

“Not yet.” He whispered.

“Who are you?” Kolivan asked Keith in a stern manner. “Speak demon. What is your name?”

Keith, still hunched over, started to laugh in a voice that was not his own. He slowly looked up with a grin on his face. His eyes were a light brown colour. “Well, well, well…” He said in a voice that wasn’t his. “This is another fine mess Lance has gotten himself into. What is he using this time? Another tree? A rock? A…” They looked down at themselves and seemed surprised to see that they were in a human body. “... Okay what the fuck Lance?”

“What is your name?” Asked Kolivan in a much more stern voice.

Not Keith rolled his eyes. “Oh shut up you asshole. The name is Stolas. Also known as Pidge. Now, why the fuck am I talking through this fleshy weirdo?”

“Are you possessing Keith?” Asked Kolivan.

Pidge shook their head. “No? You idiots are the ones that called me. Like… how do I word this…? This vessel is like the carrier pigeon that delivers the message, that message being my lovely voice, between us. I’m seriously using an old skull hanging on my wall to talk to you right now.”

Kolivan seemed a little annoyed and just glared at him. “The Incubus, this… Lance… He has forced this man, Keith, to be his human handler. He’s become unresponsive. How do we break this ritual and free him?”

Pidge had the most confused expression on their face. “What? Lance doesn’t… Wow, you guys don’t know shit about sex demons do you? They don’t need to do that shit to get humans to follow them. They are charming, charismatic. The people you want to be with… But seriously, you don’t know shit about Lance. Even if Lance can use mind manipulation magic he doesn’t like it. He wants people to come to him of their own free will… But it’s been a few hundred years since I’ve talked to him so I have no clue what Lance’s plans are. You’re better off talking to Belphegor or Mammon. I’ve been living in my cave with no contact from that lustful jerk for over three centuries. So yeah, peace out!”

Before Kolivan could ask them any more questions, Pidge violently threw themselves backwards and became very still. After a few moments Keith opened his eyes and he was back to being his quiet, catatonic self.

“... What the fuck was that?!” Snapped Shiro. “What the fuck did you do to him?”

Antok frowned. “I don’t know… It was meant to see if he was possessed by a demon or something… Why is he a conduit?”

Kolivan thought for a moment. “Maybe we should try and talk to Belphegor or Mammon?”

“No!” Said Shiro. “What if something worse happens to him?”

“Demonic possession is not the same as it is in the movies.” Said Kolivan. He looked up at Antok and nodded. He nodded back and the two of them started to chant again. They didn’t have to chant for very long before Keith violently contorted and sat up again. His eyes were a dark brown. “What is your name?” Demanded Kolivan.

“Belphegor.” They said calmly. “But um, I guess you guys can call me Hunk? Pidge said that you might be calling me.” Hunk looked down at the body they were in and sighed. “I told Lance that he shouldn’t use a human as a conduit, but no… Of course he goes and does something like this… Did Lance do something stupid and you want to stop it from happening? Is this guy getting used by other demons?”

“What has that Incubus done to this human?” Barked Kolivan.

This made Hunk flinch a little and he nervously started pressing his fingers together. “Hey man… Don’t get so mad at me… I’m just here. You called me… B-but it looks like Lance might have just made this human a conduit… I um… I just… I know you can make humans into a conduit but it’s way too much effort. You’d just need a splash of blood and some spells for an inanimate object. For a living being you’d need it to ingest a lot of your own blood… I-I don’t know. I don’t make a lot of conduits…”

Shiro was quickly getting frustrated. “Why did this have to happen to Keith?” He muttered.

Hunk looked over at Shiro and frowned. “... This is a relative of yours?”

“My brother.”

“Oh… Sorry about that…” They nervously scratched the back of their head. “Well, I guess the best thing you should do is maybe talk to Mammon… She talked to them last before they crossed over here and… Well, I honestly wouldn’t want to talk to her unless you really have to. They can be… I mean, Mammon is Lance’s ex after all… Though I-” The temperature in the room started to plummet. “Oh no… She’s-” Hunk grabbed at his throat and started to violently cough. It sounded like he was going to vomit.

“You have to stop this!” Said Shiro quickly. “Whatever you’re doing you have to stop! You’re going to kill him!”

“Kill him?” Asked a British female voice. Keith smirked up at him with his now bright blue eyes and flipped his hair back. “Now why would I go and kill a conduit? I told Lance to be careful with that heart of his. Kind of disappointed he didn’t give it to me. Selfish thing he is.”

“Mammon, I take it?” Asked Kolivan.

They smiled and nodded. “Yes. Though I prefer to be called Allura. Pidge told me that you might be asking for me?”

“What do you know about Lance?” Asked Shiro.

Allura chuckled and sighed happily. “Ah, Lance… What can I say about that Incubus? One of the best lays I’ve ever had… He’s just so…” They ran their fingertip’s up along their inner thigh, making breathy gasps. “Thick.” She purred as she made eye contact with Shiro. “Oh? How quaint. You think this boy belongs to you? You want him? You want this boy? I can tell you’re going crazy with your desire for him. Why don’t you come here and fuck him? Fuck this body.” They laid back and spread their legs. “Come on big boy. Fuck me! Fuck me! Fuck me!”

Before Shiro could yell at the demon to shut up, Antok and Kolivan grabbed hold of them and tied them down. Allura seemed surprised by this and then they seemed mildly annoyed.

“Clearly you know nothing about demon foreplay. Then again, your kind does nothing but murder my kind, so I am not surprised.” Allura sighed and drummed her fingers against the bed. “So Lance huh? Where are you keeping him?”

“Why do you assume he’s still alive?” Asked Kolivan.

Allura looked at him like he was an idiot. “Because if Lance really was dead neither of us would be talking. You want to know why Lance is here because once you find out you can kill him.” She smirked and happily spoke in a sing-song voice. “I know why he came here and you don’t.”

“Why is he here?” Asked Kolivan. “Tell us! By the runes and spells that have called you into this body you are compelled to tell us why Lance is here!”

Allura looked up at him and smirked. “Some demons believe in soulmates. Lance is a strange Incubus and strongly believes in the concept of soulmates. He doesn’t care if his soulmate is bound to him through hate or fear. He just wants to find them. He just knows that they are somewhere in the human realm… And let me let you children in on a secret. Once an Incubus sinks their claws into the thing they desire, they will never, never, ever let them go.”

“Enough!” Yelled Kolivan. He took a bottle with a clear liquid in it and splashed it onto them. “Begon!” Allura yelled out and writhed for a few seconds before Keith went limp again and his eyes were back to normal and completely glassy again. His chest was heaving and his muscles were twitching slightly. Eventually his body was still again and Keith was slowly blinking as he stared up at the ceiling.

“... What did you do to him?” Asked Shiro. “What the fuck is going on?”

“It’s unclear.” Said Kolivan. “I haven’t heard of demons using humans as conduits before… Vessels for possession, yes, but not this…” He nodded over at Kolivan and the other left the room. Kolivan walked over to Shiro and put his hand on his shoulder. “Take care of him and watch him closely… Don’t undo his bindes. Keep him tied up until we know exactly what is going on.”

“Do you think Allura was telling the truth?”

Kolivan shrugged. “They are a demon. There might be some truth in their words, but they should not be trusted on principle… Just keep him company. Okay?”

“O-Okay…” Shiro sat next to Keith and gently reached out to touch his arm. His muscles were still twitching under his skin. Shiro had no idea what happened but it looked extremely painful. He felt horrible. He shouldn’t have let Kolivan do that. “... I’m sorry Keith. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry… I’m sorry Keith… I’m so sorry… L-let’s talk about this, okay? Just… Just talk to me… Please… I’m sorry…”

***

Deep in the darker, underground parts of the Marmora’s base was where they kept their darker secrets. Their “shames.” The demons that they couldn’t really kill or exorcise from this plane of existence. Some were just stronger than others. Like that Incubus.

His body had an extreme healing factor. It was faster than anything they had experienced before. But it was fine. They were okay with a challenge. For the past week they had been pulling the Incubus apart and putting it back together. They didn’t have to struggle to put it back together either. Just pressing the correct limbs to the right part was good enough. It didn’t matter if they cut off the head either.

On the second day of capturing the demon they had to behead it so they could stitch its mouth and eyelids shut. When it tried to rip the stitched out they cut off his hands. It became pissy after that and stayed quiet in its cage.

On the fourth day it managed to pick through the stitches by using the sharpened points of bones on his arm stubs. It was babbling and desperately pleading to know if Keith was okay. That’s all it was talking about. Keith this and Keith that. It was obsessed with finding out more about the human they had captured and tortured for years on end.

On the sixth day, despite not being able to see, the demon attempted to escape. It violently threw themselves around their cage. Screeching and carrying on. It disturbed the other members and they just avoided that area of the basement. The only reason it calmed down and stopped was because it got its wing caught in the bars of the cage and he mangled it. It laid down on the ground and quietly whimpered and sobbed for Keith.

Now on the seventh day, Kolivan needed to see him. He needed to know what on earth was happening to Keith. The spell he had cast was just meant to see if there were any demonic curses placed on him to keep him in a catatonic state.

The Incubus was quiet in his cage today. He didn’t even notice Kolivan walking over to him, much less when the man stood in front of him. “Demon.” He growled. “Incubus. I need to have a word with you.” The demon didn’t move. “It’s about Keith.”

The second he said his name the Incubus looked in his direction. “Keith? Is he okay? Is he sick? I swear if you’ve hurt him!”

“He’s in a catatonic state.” Informed Kolivan. “Your friends have been talking through him. Pidge, Hunk, and Allura.”

“... Huh? Why would they... ? How could they…? Unless...” Their demeanor quickly changed and they became violent again. “Let me out!” He yelled. “I have to see him! I have to help him! They shouldn’t be speaking through him! You have to let me see him! I’ll do anything! Anything! I’ll suck your dick!”

Kolivan was pretty disgusted by the desperation in the demon’s voice. He gestured for Antok and a few other members to come over. Kolivan gestured towards the cage. Seconds later Lance was getting pulled out of the cage. Before he could steady himself he was pinned down to the ground with silver tipped spears.

The Incubus cried out in pain and shock as they tried to crawl away. It just tore up their body further as they bled out onto the floor. They were still begging to see Keith. It disgusted Kolivan. It was clear they weren’t going to get any more information from them. 

“Store him away with the rest of their kind.” He ordered.

Antok nodded and got out an axe. Kolivan watched as the man brought down the axe on the demon’s body. They screamed in agony, but stopped when his head was cleaved from his shoulders. After that their body was grabbed and stuffed his body into the barrel where they had tossed his hands. The barrel was sealed and rolled into the room with dozens of other similar barrels.

Once the demon was locked away Antok pulled Kolivan away to have a private talk. “Kolivan… Keith is still catatonic. It’s been a week he’s not waking up. Now demons are speaking through him? Like a fucking phone? What are we going to do?”

Kolivan shrugged. “There isn’t much we can do. The demons weren’t willing to talk and I don’t want to listen to their lies and manipulations any longer… This is probably going to be a lost cause…” He sighed sadly. “Get someone to start forging paperwork to move Keith to a home. We can’t keep him here…”

“... Shiro is going to be crushed.”

“I know. But there isn’t much we can do.” Said Kolivan. “We did what we promised. We brought his brother back… And we managed to catch the Incubus. It’s not what everyone wanted, but it is a happy ending in a way...”

“I guess. If your idea of happy endings is demons, mental scarring and physical and emotional abuse.”

Kolivan shrugged and walked out of the room. That was nothing much else he could say. They caught the demon. They helped Shiro get his brother back. Never said that Keith would come back unscathed.


	9. Puppet

Through the whole week Keith had been fully conscious and aware of what was happening around him. He was fully aware that Shiro was doing his best to take care of him. He even got him his hippo. He was happy he did that, but Keith wanted to know what happened to Lance. During the time his body was hijacked he heard the other demons talking to them about Lance. Allura said he was still alive.

He really wanted that to be the case. He wanted Lance. He needed Lance. But he had no idea how to find Lance. Lance was somewhere near him, he was pretty sure. He just didn’t know where. If he could contact those other other demons he might have a chance of finding Lance. He needed to know he was okay.

But he was completely locked out of his body. He didn’t know what he could do. All he had was his mind. For the next three nights after his body had been used by the demons Keith laid awake in his bed when Shiro was gone and thought about the names of the demons in his head until he fell asleep. He only realised he had fallen asleep when he’d be woken up the next day when Shiro picked him up in the morning.

On the third night though he felt the temperature in the room dropping and his mind became foggy. His body started moving on its own and he was walking towards a mirror that was on the wall. It was a surreal feeling to see his body moving on its own with his eyes being a bright blue colour. Practically the colour of the sky.

They smirked at their reflection and started speaking in a posh British accent. “Well aren’t you a strange one? Actually calling for a demon to come back to you? Hunk and Pidge thought their conduits were broken when they heard little mouse whispers. Now I am here. What is it you want?” Keith tried to move his own mouth, but found he couldn’t. The woman tisked and rolled her eyes. “Use your mind. Your thoughts. I can hear you if you think it.” She tapped their forehead.

_Like this?_

“Yes. Just like that.” Said the demon with a happy smile. “So, you may call me Allura. You would be Keith, correct?”

_Yeah. I’m Keith… Are you really Lance’s ex?_

They chuckled and lightly brushed some of their hair away from their face. “Yes. I know. Shocking. What would I, Allura, be doing with him? Big dick and amazing oral skills. But you would probably know that already, right?”

_Th-that’s inappropriate!_

Allura chuckled and grinned. “Sorry. Demons really do like getting a rise out of humans. But I see you are a very special human to Lance.” They wiggled their fingers and grinned. “Such a pretty ring. Humans exchange rings to visually show they are mates for life, correct?”

_... Are you mad at me?_

“Is this because I am Lance’s ex?” Asked Allura. “Not in the slightest. Lance and I weren’t interested in becoming a mating pair. We were just having fun fooling around until we got bored of it. Lance decided he wanted to find his soulmate around the end of our relationship and I guess that’s you?”

_I… I um… Are soulmates real things?_

Allura shrugged and twirled some of Keith’s hair around her finger. “A fair few demons believe in it. Though it is most prevalent among sex demons. Anyway, you want to find Lance, right?”

_Yes. I need him._

Allura smiled kindly at him through the mirror. “Okay. I can help you, but I am going to bring Pidge and Hunk in on this too… You might get a pretty bad headache though… It’s one thing to have one demon speaking through you as a conduit, but three? Well… You might start bleeding out of your nose… And you’ll probably be tired in the morning...”

_Just do it. I need Lance… I’d rather be dead than live without him._

“Alright. Let’s get this call all set up.” Allura walked back to the bed and sat back down. “Pidge? Hunk? Are you there?”

Keith’s mind quickly felt foggy and heavy. He felt sick. He felt like weights were being pressed down on his body. His body shuddered and he felt his skin crawl as a different voice pushed out of his throat. “What’s happening?” Grumbled Pidge. “I’m trying to get some work done.”

“What’s up?” Asked Hunk.

“Lance’s conduit is his soulmate.” Said Allura. “His name is Keith and they are married. Say hi to everyone.”

_Hi..._

Hunk gasped. “You two are soulmates? So that’s what Lance was doing! Oh man, we have to meet up in real life some day!”

“How the fuck did he make a human his conduit?” Asked Pidge.

_... I was sick. He gave me his heart and took mine. If I didn’t I would have died..._

He felt himself tear up a little and sniffle, though it wasn’t him that was doing it. “Oh man…” Sniffled Hunk. “Lance… that stupid, kind, stupid demon…”

His sniffling instantly stopped. “Well that explains why a damn human is his conduit.” Said Pidge. They cracked Keith’s knuckles and he could feel his face twist into a smirk. “Alright Keith. Here is how it’s going to work. I’m the brains of the operation. Hunk’s going to deal with most of the logistics. Allura’s the people person… Then there is you.”

_Yes? What can I do?_

Hunk chuckled a little. “It’s pretty obvious buddy. You’re the one that’s going to have to do all the heavy lifting. Sorry buddy but we have limited range in the human world. We can make you a little stronger, but we can’t do anything too crazy…”

“Also,” interrupted Allura. “If Lance is being held anywhere particularly nasty with charms to keep us away, we will have to leave and you will be on your own. Do you think you can do that?”

_I can hardly move my own body..._

“Paralized?” Asked Pidge. “Catatonic? What?”

_Everyone is saying I’m catatonic. Does your mind still work when you’re catatonic?_

“Not a clue.” Said Pidge. “Okay, I’ll work on something to fix that… I have a book somewhere… Okay. We’ll be working on this over the next few days. Think you can handle us peeking in every now and then to snoop around Keith?”

_I’m okay with that… I want to find Lance. My husband… My... my soulmate._

Allura smiled and clapped her hands. “Excellent. Well, now that we are all on the same page, let’s find Lance.”

***

Shiro wasn’t sure if this was a good sign or not after all the bullshit with Keith being used as a phone by some demons, but Keith was starting to twitch. It was very subtle, but he would occasionally move his foot or his fingers would twitch and knock his hippo out of his lap. He hoped it was a sign of progress, but he doubted it. 

He took Keith outside and wheeled him to a shady area. The weather was nice and he hoped that this would help him. Shiro gently put his hand on Keith’s arm and squeezed. “Hey… When we get out of here do you want to go to the zoo? There is a zoo near here and they have some pygmy hippos. You still like hippos, right?”

A breeze blew over them and pushed some of Keith’s hair into his eyes. Shiro brushed it out of his eyes and took a hair clip out and very carefully pinned Keith’s hair out of his face. He gently tilted Keith’s head up and frowned slightly. He had dark circles under his eyes and he looked a little malnourished. He would see if he could get some more food for Keith to eat. He needed it.

“... Is the mattress uncomfortable?” He asked. “Are you not sleeping well? … I’ll try and get a better one for you. Are you okay with that?” Keith’s lip twitched a little. It made Shiro smile a little. He was still there. He was still trying. He was trying to communicate with him.

“Shiro, can I talk to you for a second?” Called Kolivan from the doorway.

Shiro made sure that the breaks were on the wheelchair before he walked over to the man. “Yeah?”

“He hasn’t made much progress, has he?”

“He’s twitching a little…”

“But he isn’t verbally communicating.” Said Kolivan. “... Look, there is a nice home you can send Keith to near where your house is. We have papers forged and we will fund Keith’s stay there. He needs twenty four hour care and he needs to leave here… Lance’s remains are still within the headquarters and might be affecting him.”

Shiro frowned a little and looked over at Keith. A crow was pecking around his feet and cawing up at him. “... Thank you for what you’ve done for us. How soon can you get us away from this place?”

“Three days.” Said Kolivan. “If something happens and Keith is able to speak again we will need to talk to him about his experiences with the demon.”

“I know. Thank you.”

Shiro walked over to where Keith was and shooed the crow away. It mostly ignored him and pecked at the ground “... I was just speaking to Kolivan. In three days we’re going to go somewhere else… Someplace nicer. I’m sure you will like it there. You’ll be able to get better and you won’t have to deal with that demon anymore. Sounds nice, right?”

The crow suddenly let out a strangled cry and fell to the ground. Shiro raised an eyebrow and poked the bird with a stick. It wasn’t moving. It looked like it just dropped dead.

“... Let’s go inside…” Shiro quickly wheeled the man back inside the building. However, if he stayed outside for a few moments longer he would have noticed the crow was rapidly decomposing. 

***

“So we only have three days huh?” Asked Pidge as they quietly walked down the hallway that night. They were trying to keep things quiet as they attempted to find Lance. They had searched every room on the upper floors and now they were going down into the basement areas.

_We will find him. I can’t live without him._

“That’s the power of soulmates for you.” Mused Allura. “Well, I for one am happy that we are close to finding him.”

“This place is pretty spooky…” Muttered Hunk. “I’m not sure I like it.” Keith started coughing, collecting droplets of blood in his hand. “Are you okay Buddy? We can go back to bed if you like? You’re already straining your body enough as it is.”

_I’m fine. Really. I just need to find Lance._

“Are you sure?” Asked Hunk. “You don’t need to push-”

“He wants to.” Said Pidge. “Just let him do this.”

They got to the bottom of the stairs and could distinctly smell stale blood. It made Keith feel a little nauseous but his body kept moving forward. They walked to a door and very slowly opened it, unsure if any one was out at the moment.

When they deemed that no one was inside, they pushed the door open and walked inside. The best way to describe the place they stumbled into would be a dungeon or totrue chamber. There were old bloodied hooks hanging from the ceiling, chains on the walls, stacks of animal cages, silver tipped axes and spears hung in racks. There were so many other torture devices, but Keith didn’t know what they were called.

“These humans are fucked…” Muttered Pidge. They reached out with Keith’s hand and ran it across a stone table. It was tilted slightly and had a groove in it running along the edges.

“This looks sacrificial.” Muttered Allura in disgust. “I bet they tried to bleed demons out here. Look, there’s a place to collect the blood.” Keith watched as Allura ran his fingers through one of the grooves. It was dry. 

They continued to walk around the room. The demons commented on what they were seeing and what they might be able to use to find Lance. Keith just turned it out. He wasn’t really paying attention to them. He just wanted to see Lance again. Sure he was a demon and all, but Keith really didn’t know how to live without him. Lance was his whole world. If he couldn’t be with Lance anymore then maybe it would be better if he just died?

He heard something shift behind one of the heavily locked doors. _There..._

“What was that Buddy?” Asked Hunk.

_Lance is there. Behind that door._

They looked over at a door with a sigil and runes carved into it. Allura huffed and crossed their arms. “Well… This is tricky… Keith, this a demon repelling charm. When we are talking through you we can’t open it. It will burn your hands. If he really is behind this door we will have to leave and you’ll have to do it.” Said Allura calmly. “Can you still not move your body yet?”

_No… I’m still pretty useless… I’m sorry..._

“Don’t feel bad man.” Said Hunk quickly. “We’ll figure something else out. I promise.”

“Yeah, just give me a day to figure this shit out.” Said Pidge. “Someone needs to pilot Keith back to bed. I’m out.”

“I’ll take him back.” Said Allura. “You two can go now.”

“Okay. Later guys.” Siad Pidge.

“We’ll figure this out Keith.” Said Hunk.

Soon Keith was just left with Allura in his head. She very carefully walked back to Keith’s room, very carefully ducking and hiding in the shadows. Eventually they got back and Allura climbed into the bed and hummed happily.

“... Hey Keith? Can I ask you something?

_Yeah?_

“Do you really love Lance? Just because you are soulmates doesn’t mean you have to be in love with him.”

_I… I love him. I can’t live without him. If I can’t be without Lance. I need him._

“Okay.” Said Allura softly. “You get some sleep now. There are only a few hours until morning. Goodnight Keith.”

 _Goodnight Allura._ Keith shuddered a little as cold washed over his body and he was all alone again. He sighed and closed his eyes. He needed to start moving again before Shiro took him away. He was sure that they could probably help him get back here if he needed to, but he didn’t want to have to walk all the way back here. He’d find Lance soon. 

He vowed that he would protect him just like the demon had done for. He was a good boy. He was a good boy for Lance. He needed Lance. Lance needed him. He was his husband and this was what husbands do, right? They look after each other.


	10. Escape

_It is difficult to tell what the effects of people living with demons is due to the difficulty and inhumane nature of performing such tests. To do so one would need to either forcefully bond a demon to a human or force a human to become possessed by a demon. Most people who have been around such monsters long term seem to develop demonic qualities._

_The first sign of demonic transformation is teeth falling out. Human teeth are normally changed into more jagged and animalistic teeth. It is difficult to monitor much progress after that. Some of the most common demons that frequently interact with humans and convert them into more demons would be sex demons._

_They will frequently use human wombs to procreate more of their kind and by doing so their chosen females usually tend to display demonic qualities. It’s theorised that the foetus, containing DNA from their demonic parent, forces the mother to change and adapt to make them protect them at all costs. Manipulating them before they are born._

_On the other hand, some humans that have been abducted by demons as just a food source and reconfigured and reconstituted into appropriate and easily accessible furniture. These gore nests or flesh hives are where most sex demons tend to live in, around, and congregate in hell._

_There is one other form these victims of a sex demon might take, and that is that of a “feeder” demon. Individual that form a true symbiotic bond with a sex demon may slowly transform into an entity with silimar physical features as a sex demon, though they tend to have more muscle mass, shorter tails, smaller wings, and larger horns._

_From observations of feeder demons they seem to either catch or lure unsuspecting humans towards their demonic lover and eat the corpse once the other is done with them. Their relationship seems to extend far beyond food, as the sex demon will keep their dwelling clean and bare children for the feeder demon regardless of their physical appearence. If a feeder demon is nearby then a sex demon is not far behind._

***

Shiro closed the book and sighed. He had been reading over everything he could about demons and demonic possessions to help save Keith. He was wasting away and nothing they were doing seemed to help. They were going to move Keith tomorrow. He looked over at his brother. He had placed Keith by the window again. He hoped that he wasn’t too bored. There wasn’t much he could do in the way of entertainment for him right now.

He sighed and brushed Keith’s hair, carefully plating it. He hoped that if this was like a coma and Keith knew what was going on that he would know that Shiro was doing his best for him. Shiro wanted Keith to know that he loved him and would always love him.

“Your hair looks really nice.” He said. “Do you want to grow it out? Maybe cut it short? I think you would look nice either way. Don’t you?”

Keith obviously said nothing. Shiro sighed and got a mirror for him and showed him his reflection. He hoped Keith liked how he looked. He still looked pretty messed up. Still wasting away. He needed to do something for Keith to make him feel better.

“Keith… When we leave here we’ll go somewhere better. Things will get better. I promise things will be okay. I promise.” He held Keith’s hand and gently squeezed. “I’ll do anything for you. I love you so much Keith.”

The younger man continued to stare at nothing. Shiro couldn’t tell if there was anything behind Keith’s eyes. He just seemed so blank. Keith looked like a doll. A sickly doll, but a doll nonetheless. He wanted to hug him and keep him safe from the monsters of the world. Keith needed help. He was going to be that help.

“... I’m going to get you some food.” Said Shiro. “I’ll be back soon.” He put Keith’s hippo on his lap and headed down to get food for him.

***

When Shiro was gone, Keith couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. Shiro was doing his best for him and trying to help him move again. He felt bad. Guilty. Shiro loved him so much and Keith loved him, but his body, heart, and soul belonged to Lance.

“Are you having second thoughts?” Asked Pidge.

_Huh? No. I’m just..._

“He’s your brother. Yeah, I get it.” Said Pidge. They picked up hippo and looked at it. “A comforting thing for you?”

_Yeah… Shiro got it for me..._

“You probably won’t be able to take it with you when you run off.” Said Pidge. “I mean, you can if you like, but probably not.”

_I guess, but have you figured out how to make me walk and function again? I can’t open the door if I can’t move._

“I have a way, but it’s gonna hurt.”

_How so?_

“I need to drop you.”

_What?_

“Like, you just fall over. It’ll jump start you.”

_Wow. So reassuring. I could have done that myself_

“Hey, I’m going a lot of stuff on my end too. This is just the shit you need to know.”

_Fine… You should go now. Shiro’s going to come soon with whatever stuff they inject into my feeding tube._

“Okay fair. See you later tonight Keith. Get ready.”

_I will be ready. Don’t you worry about that Pidge. I’m ready to help my husband._

***

That night when Shiro said goodnight to Keith he was itching to leave. He still had to wait an hour before Allura took over and very carefully pulled his feeding tube out, placing it carefully on the bed. After that she went around and dressed Keith up in the only clothes that he had. It wasn’t much.

“Are you ready to go?”

_Can You write a note for Shiro before I leave?_

“If I must…” There was some paper and pencils in the room and she quickly wrote down the note that Keith dictated for her. Her writing was a lot more perfect than his was. Keith couldn’t read it but Allura assured him that she wrote down everything he had said. She placed it on the bed and put the stuffed hippo on top of it.

Keith felt a little guilty, but his need to see Lance and be with him because he loved him. As he walked along Hunk and Pidge would come around whisper a few things as they slinked through the darkness and back to the basement.

They managed to get back to the door covered with enchantments. Hunk sighed a little and looked around, finding a barrel of discarded tools and looked through it, grabbing a crowbar. “This should be helpful if Lance is in a cage or something.”

“Really Hunk?” Asked Allura. “A cage?”

“You never know.” Said Hunk. “Well, there’s nothing else I can do here. Let us know what happens. Tell Lance I want to meet up with him soon. Bye.”

“I should leave too.” Said Allura. “Pidge, Keith, it’s all up to you two now. Good luck.”

Pidge sighed a little and sat on a table that was probably used for some kind of physical torture. “Alright… So here is what’s going to happen. I’m going to lean forward and leave. Your body will hit the ground and should reset everything.”

_Oh? Really? Looks painful..._

“It’s meant to be painful… Look, you’re married to Lance, right?”

_Yeah?_

“Good. You have a strong bond with him… I didn’t mention this before, but humans are tricky things. These demon hunters probably subdued Lance somehow. Maybe chopping him up or tying him up. I don’t know. You won’t like what you see, but demons aren’t as easily disposed of as they might think. No matter how mutilated Lance might be he will recover. Trust me, sex demons are worse than cockaroaches. Nothing short of a virgin versed in the purity magic will take us out.”

_Good to know._

“Okay. Good luck Keith. I’ll do my bit on my end. You do yours.” With that Pidge was gone and Keith fell forward hitting the ground hard.

He groaned in pain as he twitched a little and slowly tried to move. He was surprised that Pidge actually helped him out. He cleared his throat and sat up. “Aaaaaa… Okay, I can talk. Good.” 

He slowly sat up and pulled himself to his feet. He looked at the door and picked up the crowbar. He hesitated a little. This was it. He could just leave it and run. He could go back and tell Shiro that he was back and he could have a somewhat normal human life, but Lance… He could never abandon Lance. He promised him that he would take care of him. He vowed it.

He put his hand on the doorknob and pushed it open. Inside the room were barrels. Lots and lots of barrels. Dozens of barrels stacked on top of each other. All of them had weird writing on them. Keith hated the nauseating feeling of unease he felt in this place. Were demons being stored in these barrels?

He didn’t want to think about it. He just wanted to find Lance. He needed Lance. He was so close he could almost feel him. He brushed up against a barrel and felt a shiver down his spine. This was it he knew it. Lance was in that barrel.

Keith pried the barrel open and pushed it over. A mess of limbs fell out and Keith felt his heart stop. It was Lance’s body. “No…” He whispered. “No, no, no…” His hands were shaking as he crouched over Lance’s body and started to try to force the pieces back together. It was like he was trying to put a meat puzzle back together. It wasn’t sticking together.

He pressed the Lance’s neck against his torso and watched in relief as the meat and skin started to fuse back together. Lance gasped for air. His eyes were stitched shut and his mouth looked like it had been cut up pretty badly.

“Fuck…” Wheezed the demon. “Just… Fuck…”

“It’s okay.” Said Keith. “I-I’m going to fix you. P-put you back together.”

“Keith?” They turned their head towards Keith and smiled. “Is that really you?”

Keith smiled back at him and gently caressed his cheek. “Yeah. It’s me. I’ll fix you.”

“Give me back my arms first.”

“Of course.” It took a few minutes but Keith put Lance’s arms back together and once they were attached to his body, Lance quickly picked away at the stitches on his eyes and helped Keith reattach his legs, tail, and wings.

Once Lance was all put together again, he looked pretty banged up and worse for wear. But Keith didn’t care. He hugged Lance tightly and cried into his chest. Lance held him and ran his fingers down his back in a soothing manner.

“It’s okay Keith. I’m okay now. I love you so much.” He cupped Keith’s face and kissed him passionately. Keith kissed him back with just as much passion, but gently pushed him away, which confused Lance a little. “Hmm?”

“I-I know you’re hungry, but we need to get out of here first.” Said Keith quietly. “I’ll feed you as much as you need me to.”

Lance grinned and nuzzled him. “Alright. We will get the hell out of here and find somewhere else to stay. Might take a few weeks, but with the weather getting colder… Want to head to Cuba?”

Keith chuckled and nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go to Cuba. You know I’ll go anywhere with you. Do anything for you. I love you Lance. You’re my husband.”

The demon blushed a little and kissed him again. “You are such a romantic. Let’s get out of here.”

Keith nodded and held Lance’s hand tightly. The two of them walked out of the room and quickly looked around. They didn’t really have much of an escape plan. Keith’s whole plan had been to get back to Lance no matter what. Now that he had done that, how the hell would they get out?

“This way.” Said Lance quietly. He took Keith over to a door hidden behind a stack of boxes and some odd looking torture device and carefully pushed it open. There was a cold breeze coming out from it. There were stairs leading deeper into the earth. Keith wasn’t sure if they should go down there, but Lance pulled him along. They walked down the stairs and after what felt like forever, Keith started to hear running water.

“... Lance? Where are we?”

“I’m not sure.” Said Lance quietly. “I heard people coming from this direction a few times when I was in the torture chamber. It had to be a way out.” At the bottom of the steps was an underground river. It was running through a large looking cave with a small pinprick of light at the end. Keith looked around and spotted a small boat tied to a pier.

“... Over here.” Said Keith. He got into the boat and waved for Lance to follow him.

Lance was about to get into the boat, but hesitated. “Keith, do you really want to do this? If you go back now you can-”

“Don’t try and manipulate me.” Said Keith. “I’m your husband. We belong to each other.” He reached out and smiled at him. “Lance, just come with me already.”

The demon looked a little surprised by how he was talking but smiled and got into the boat. “Okay. Let go.”

Keith smiled a little and carefully started to maneuver the boat through the water and out onto a lake. The sun was starting to rise. Lance made a pleased noise and he stretched his wings. They still looked dull and kind of in tatters. It was pretty bad. It upset Keith to think that someone could treat Lance so poorly. He loved him. He was a good demon, well, better than most demons in general.

When the sun was well in the air, Keith pulled into the side of the river and got out, helping Lance get out too. He still looked pretty awful and it upset Keith a lot. “Lance… We should find you something to eat soon… Also some clothes.”

Lance chuckled a little and wrapped their wings around their body. “Yeah. Probably for the best…”

“Yeah…” Keith held his hand and smiled softly at him. He felt safe now. He felt safe with Lance. “So… Apparently I’m a conduit now. Been hearing Allura, Pidge, and Hunk in my head.”

Lance groaned in annoyance as they started walking. “Sorry love. Yeah, doing the whole heart swapping thing does sometimes give complications, but nothing should have happened to you. If those stupid Blade people did anything to you they probably accidentally made you a conduit.”

“Oh.”

Lance squeezed his hand and smiled at him. “But don’t worry about it. While it can’t really be stopped now since those idiots started it, I can just not talk to them.”

“Hunk wants to meet up at some point.”

“Of course he does.” He chuckled. “You’ll love him. Sure Hunk is pretty lazy, but he’s awesome. Pidge is really cool too and Allura-”

“Your ex.”

“Yeah, my ex, she’s really sweet too.” Said Lance happily. “Well, she does bully humans a lot and makes them uncomfortable, but what demon doesn’t do that? She’s nice... So, what’s our next move?”

Keith shrugged. “Cuba?”

Lance laughed and grinned. “I was kind of joking about that, but I’ll happily go to Cuba with you.”

Keith smiled back and found that his jaw started to hurt. He frowned and ran his tongue over his teeth. He pushed something hard into his mouth and tasted blood. Keith spat out a tooth. Roots and all. It looked like a molar. Which was kind of weird. He didn’t know what this meant but it probably wasn’t good.


	11. 10 years later

_Dear Shiro_

_I’m so sorry. I really wish things could have turned out differently. I fell in love with Lance. He is my soulmate and I love him so much. I can’t live without him. I don’t blame you for what you did. I know you did it all out of love for me. You’re the best and most amazing human I have ever had the opportunity to meet. You mean the world to me and I hope nothing more for you then the best in life. You deserve it._

_I want you to know that nothing that has happened was your fault. You are an amazing human. Please do not worry about me. Lance is my husband and is doing his best to look after me. I’m going to do the best to look after him. Please live your life the way you deserve. I am happy and safe with my husband._

_I love you so much_   
_Keith_

***

Shiro had read the letter Keith had left him hundreds of times. Maybe even thousands of times. The paper was torn and battered. He wanted to laminate it soon. He had fallen into a deep depression after that. It took months of therapy to get over. He didn’t know what to do anymore. He’d lost. He’d lost Keith.

Adam had been there for him. His then boyfriend, always supportive and let him go off trying to figure out what happened to his little brother for years. He helped him through his darkest times and now, ten years later, he was almost back to normal. He still wondered what became of Keith, but he had to understand that Keith had made his choice.

Shiro sighed as he sank into his armchair with a glass of scotch. Adam was away at work tonight. He wouldn’t be home until early in the morning so Shiro was left alone with his scotch while listening to the radio playing in the background.

He’d cut all ties with Kolivan and the Blade after they failed to keep Keith safe and admitted that Lance had escaped. He blamed them for failing his brother and didn’t want anything to do with them anymore. They respected his wishes and let him go.

He finished his drink and headed to bed. He was already into his pyjamas and crawled under the covers. Shiro tried to fall asleep but he just couldn’t tonight. He felt like he was being watched. He knew he was being paranoid. It was stupid. He tried to ignore that feeling until he felt the mattress dip slightly.

Shiro immediately sat up and grabbed his alarm clock, wanting to throw it into the dark, but he froze when he saw a crouched figure at the edge of his bed. The humanoid creature was about to crawl onto Shiro’s bed. It stared at him with bright yellow eyes. He had giant horns on his head like antlers. Their long black hair was tied back in a ponytail and fell over their shoulder.

“Shiro.” They said quietly as they climbed onto the bed. “It’s been such a long time. I missed you.”

The older man gulped as they looked at the demon wag its tail like a dog and stretch its small wings. “Y-yeah… I’ve missed you too Keith… What happened to you?”

Keith shrugged. “My teeth started to fall out and I started changing. My tail came through after my teeth. Then my horns and wings. It was an interesting experience… I stopped wanting to eat food and I started eating raw meat. It made cleaning up Lance’s food a lot easier.”

Shiro frowned and nodded. “I see, so have you come to kill me?”

Keith looked shocked. “What? No! I would never kill you Shiro. No… I just… I missed you and this might be the last time I get to see you.”

“... Why?”

Keith smiled happily. “Lance and I are going to move to hell permanently… Staying on earth is becoming difficult and we’ve been talking about starting a family. Apparently sex demons can have children regardless of gender they appear to have. We’re going to have a baby together.”

The more Keith talked the worse Shiro felt. Keith was completely gone. The sweet boy that Shiro had been trying to save was gone and he didn’t seem to mind at all. The way Keith was talking was so full of happiness and joy. He was happy with his new life. He was happy being with Lance. He was happy being a demon.

“I was also thinking, and Lance agreed with me that if we have a baby we want to name them Shiro.”

“... You what?” Shiro was shocked.

Keith smiled and nodded. “Shiro, no matter what I am or who I become I care about you. You’re my brother and I want you to feel safe and happy.”

“... Are you really happy Keith? Are you really safe? That demon he… He took everything from you.”

The demon shrugged. “Yeah. I guess, but Lance gave me a new life. It was scary at first, but I love him. He’s taken care of me for so long… I love him Shiro. I love him so much… And when I became a demon I stopped being a conduit so that was good. I stopped being a phone service for other demons.”

“That’s good…” Out of the corner of his eye he saw another demon watching them patiently. It was Lance. 

He looked over at Shiro and waved. “Long time no see.”

“Lance…”

The Incubus smiled and walked over to Keith. He wrapped his arms around Keith’s shoulders and smirked at him. He had this possessive look about him that made Shiro feel sick. “Shiro. It has been a few years. It’s nice to see you. Keith wanted to see you face to face one last time and well, it’s hard to say no to him.”

Keith blushed a little and lightly nuzzled Lance’s cheek. “You said you’d wait in the other room for me.”

Lance chuckled and took Keith’s hand, pressing it against his own stomach. “I know, but I can feel their life essence swirling and I wanted you to feel it.” Shiro watched in disturbing fascination as Keith’s eyes lit up in delight. He rubbed his thumb over Lance’s flat stomach and looked at him with such fondness. Lance was preening under the attention. “They have very active energy. They are going to be a handful.”

“We can handle it.” Said Keith. He looked back at Shiro and smiled. “I’m happy Shiro and I hope you’ve been able to find happiness too.” He moved from Lance’s hold and hugged Shiro. “Thank you for loving me enough to never forget me. Thank you for always looking for me and caring enough to look for me for so long. I’ll never forget you.”

“...” With shaky hands Shiro hugged back. “I’ll never forget you either… I… All I ever wanted was for you to be happy…”

“I am happy Shiro. Goodbye. I love you.” Keith moved away from Shiro and off the bed. He smiled at Lance and reached for him. “Let’s go.”

Lance took Keith’s hand and the two demons left the room. Shiro lied back down in the bed and looked up at the ceiling. Everything just seemed so surreal. Almost like a fever dream. He didn’t know to think. Did that really happen? Were they… He didn’t know what to think. Did he really just talk to Keith?

***

In a small park across town Keith felt calm. He had said a proper goodbye to Shiro after all these years, and now he felt free. Lovingly hugging his arm was his husband. Ever since Keith had started to change physically into a demon the other has clung to him more. Mostly to help him through the transition.

Lance was always there for him. He always was. He always would be. He understood him a lot better now that he himself was a demon. Some of the things he didn’t understand before just clicked now. All in all the things that happened with the Blade of Mamora were a good thing. It brought them closer together than he could ever imagine.

He kissed Lance’s cheek as he rested his hand against his hip. His husband purred softly and moved his hand over towards his stomach so he could feel the life essence pulsating inside his body. They needed to go to hell soon and find a place to build their own home where they could have their own little family.

“It was nice seeing Shiro again.” Said Lance. “His hair was very white though.”

“It’s a human thing… I hope he’s happy.”

“I’m sure he is. Now, before we leave I think I deserve one last meal for me and our little squish.” He quickly kissed Keith on the lips and smiled adoringly up at him. “Find us a tasty human. I want to eat a human heart.”

Keith couldn’t deny Lance. He could never deny anything his soulmate wanted. “Of course. You wait here and I’ll bring you someone to eat. Male or female?’

“Surprise me.”

Keith smiled and kissed him. “Okay. I’ll be back soon. I love you Lance.”

“I love you too Keith. Don’t keep us waiting.”

Keith smiled and happily left the park to find Lance someone to eat. He didn’t mind. Being with Lance was all he knew. All he wanted. Lance was his soulmate and they were going to be together forever. This was what it was like to be loved, right? Lance’s love was different from human love, but they were both demons now. Demons that were in love and expecting a baby… Because when you loved someone you had a child with them, right? You married, had sex, and had children. That was how it should be… Right?

***

When Keith was gone, Lance sat on a bench and quietly waited for him to bring him someone to eat. As he did he gently rubbed his stomach. Their little squish was years in the making. A lot of coaxing on Lance’s part. Telling Keith how much he wanted to have his children. Keith had been reluctant for silly human reasons. But eventually he agreed to try.

Being as crazy fertile as he was, it didn’t take much for Lance to get knocked up. He was a sex demon. He could make himself fertile and infertile at will. One of his many tricks. Minutes after they had finished Lance could feel a new life essence swelling inside him. He happily put Keith’s hand on his stomach and watched his face go from confusion, to surprise, to adoration. Any doubts he had were immediately gone.

That was a nice memory. It made Lance smile. It was worth it. Everything that happened was worth it. Coming to earth centuries ago to find his soulmate had been the best thing he had ever done. It was a little annoying waiting for Keith for so long, but he was worth it.

He hummed softly and rubbed his thumb over his stomach. “You’re only just a swirl of energy right now, but soon you’ll start growing and I’ll start to show a bump… You’re going to love your father. Keith is so nice. He’ll take care of the both of us.” He smiled and sighed contently. “I love you so much already. I love you and he loves you… Though if you look female when you’re born I’m naming you after my mama. You’re stuck being Shiro if you’re a boy.”

He smiled and looked up at the night sky. He wasn’t just happy about having a baby with Keith. He was happy about what it represented. Their unity. Their bond. One of the many reasons that Keith would never, ever leave him. He wasn’t human anymore and only had him. Keith couldn’t run away from him and he was too good of a person to abandon a child. Especially his child.

Keith was his forever. No one would ever be able to take him away again. Keith was his. He’d won. Lance finally had everything he wanted. Sure it was greedy and selfish, but what did anyone expect? He was a demon after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much from reading this from beginning to end. If you just added this to a collection because you already read it from Strawberry and Blueberry Jam, thank you! If this is your first time reading it, I hope you all enjoyed it :D


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